Love Hina: What Dreams May Come
by BetweenheavenandHell
Summary: Two years after Children of Ice and Fire, Ryu is being plagued by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met, who needs his help. Will he risk everything, even his blossoming relationships with Kanna and Ayu to save her? Or will he let another die?
1. Prologue: Fields of White: Brainstatic

**A/N:** Set Two Years after Children of Ice and Fire. Ages as follows: 

**Ryuuya Sagura:** 19

**Kanna Urashima:** 19

**Ayu Miahara:** 18

**Chii Su:** 15

**Yui Su:** 21

**Mizuki Sekata:** 18

**Natsuki Otohime:** 24

**Ema Maeda: **35

**Love Hina: What Dreams May Come**

Prologue: Fields of White; Brain-static 

White…

Everywhere and everything…just pure unblemished white, stretching on beyond the eye's ability to see or the mind's capacity to understand.

Endless yet finite, a maze of contradictions existed within this space, all of them blatant but somehow unseen. Lurking behind the purity.

Breath coming in dry rasps, he stretched out one hand, splaying out his fingers before him and peering through them, wondering if perhaps a stable point of reference would help him understand.

It didn't render the barren landscape any more recognisable, but the blankness seemed to heighten his awareness of himself. Every vein, every muscle that flexed beneath the organic polymer of his skin occupied his every thought with no other distraction available.

He was…

He shock his head softly, startled by the sensation of delicate waves of ebony hair cascading in front of his vision, swishing back and forth with the motion like fine silk curtains.

Now that he concentrated, he could feel other sensations.

His hair tickled at the tops of his shoulders and the back of his neck, implying a fair length to the dark strands.

The air was bitingly cold, and he shivered gently, micro-contractions across his body severing to provide heat for his chilled skin.

Why was it so cold? It hadn't been this cold here before had it?

Something about that thought drew his attention.

"Before?", the sound of his own voice, deep and dry, like that of a man weighted down too many years by bitterness and a hate not his own, seemed to calm his rising confusion as he realised that he could not recall why such a featureless place would seem familiar to him, "…why…why do I feel as if I know this?".

He jerked as an image of two women burned through his mind, one small and slender, the other taller, more developed, but both with faces obscured for his eyes.

His knees gave way as the ground seemed to lurch from beneath him.

"What…what is going on here?", he asked aloud, the void space around him seeming to echo his words back to him.

"I don't wish to be here anymore, I don't understand", he closed his eyes, wincing as a strange pressure seemed to build in his ears.

"Let me out!", he didn't know the source of his panic, only that he did not want to revisit this place a moment longer.

With that final shout things changed.

A fierce artic wind blasted across the white plain, threatening to topple him as he huddled closer to the ground, struggling to breath as the wind seemed to tear the air from his lungs and freeze his throat shut in its wake.

He choked, desperately trying to suck in vital, life giving oxygen, but there seemed to be none for his greedy lungs to take in.

As he felt his mind growing dim, abruptly, the wind stopped.

Eyes still shut he took great gulps of sweet air, refilling his oxygen starved body in preparation for whatever the White would throw at him next.

For long, empty minutes, he waited… but nothing further assailed him.

Daring to brave the unseen dangers, he cautiously cracked open one eye. Then the other, sitting back and trying to comprehend what he saw.

White… but not the featureless eternity in which he had previously been trapped. This place had shape and texture, hills and furloughs and…

Something cold and wet settled gracefully on his nose, dripping off the chiselled feature and dropping soundlessly onto the plain white cotton trousers that now adorned his legs.

He couldn't say whether they and the matching long sleeved robe he now wore, had always been there or only just appeared.

Had he been wearing anything like this before…

"Before what?", he asked himself, his brow creasing when the relevant memory failed to surface.

Another drop of cold shook him from his musing and he tilted his head back to locate their source, finding only oppressive grey sky staring back in return as pallid dots of white drifted down to earth.

Holding out his hand, he watched as one speck landed on his outstretched palm, melting and vanishing almost instantly.

"Snow?", as he stood, the fall whipped around him causing him to shield his eyes for a moment with one sleeve.

As the wind crested it carried with it a faint sound.

A distant sob.

Lowering his arm, he peered through the whirling snowflakes trying to locate the source of the sound.

Another sob, this time clearer and lighter, came from the direction of the trail that led through the woods a little way ahead.

He found himself walking before he could recall making the choice to do so, distant questions clamouring for his attention.

As he passed through the first layer of gnarled wood, twisted branches stretching skyward as if pleading with or for something, it occurred to him that he could not remember if this forest had always been there…

Deciding that such thoughts were foolish, he walked on, directed by the sounds of misery.

"Forests do not just appear", he told himself, as if feeling the need to confirm his choice as the trees loomed closer overhead the further he went, making his path seem darker and more closed in.

As quickly as it had narrowed, the path opened into a wide clearing.

He stood silently, transfixed by the sight that awaited him.

Garbed in a kimono that seemed to been made of the essence of winter itself, long raven hair that fell down by her feet in perfectly straight waves, bound loosely near the nape of her neck, was one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen.

Even standing with her back to him as she was, narrow shoulders heaving with quiet sorrow, he could tell she was gorgeous.

What was she doing in this place he wondered, and why was she so upset? Was she supposed to be waiting for someone, or had she gotten herself lost?

"Excuse me", he said gently, clearing his throat and smiling reassuringly when she jumped and spun to face him, her hands clasped before her protectively.

"It's ok, I mean no harm", he said, raising his own hands in a placating gesture, "I heard you and thought you might need help".

She regarded him with fearful eyes the colour of burnished gold and shied away a little.

"No, it's ok, really, I just want to help… do you know where you are?", she nodded slowly but didn't speak.

"Well then you're doing better than I am", he said with a small smile as he saw her relax a little. Now she didn't look as if she was preparing to flee at any moment.

"Why were you crying?", he asked, sighing when she didn't respond, "Ok, if you don't want to talk about it that's ok… but why are you out here?".

Her eyes grew wide and she turned rapidly on her heel, bolting into the cover of the trees before he could even manage a half step to stop her.

"What was all that about?", he asked, peering through the dense foliage but unable to catch even a glimpse of her retreating form.

Suddenly pain exploded in his gut, the violent sensation drawing a scream from him as his hand flew top the site of the feeling.

Before him, the white carpet of the forest floor was now stained a bright and vivid crimson, and from his stomach, glinting a wicked silver in between the dripping gore that covered its length, was the razor edged blade of a Katana.

He could feel his body going into shock, all the feeling from his extremities receding even as his blood-slicked hands tore themselves to shreds attempting to gain purchase on the blade.

"Looks like I win again", a delicate feminine purred in his ear, warm breath dancing enticingly across his earlobe.

He tried to turn to face his killer but his muscles no longer heeded his commands, and he could already feel consciousness slipping away.

"You're too late to save her".

Everything went black.

* * *

Most people wake from nightmares with a scream or a shout of some sort, but Ryu did not. 

After seventeen or so years living one long waking nightmare, plagued by guilt, and visions of his sins both day and night, night terrors no longer held the same sway over him as once they did.

Still, why were these dreams coming to him? He had thought that after he had been separated from the Demon that had inhabited his body since he was born a little under two years ago, that he was done with sleepless nights full of tragedy and remorse.

It seemed that he had not yet been deemed worthy of such an honour.

As he lay in his futon covered in a light sheen of sweat, his shoulder length black hair plastered across his face and weak sunlight peeking in through the closed shades of his room in the Hinata Sou, Ryuuya Sagura reflected on this latest dream.

They had been coming to him for a little over three months now, and at first he had dismissed them as too much time spent listening to the plots for Kei's latest 'Manga Masterpiece', but, after a month passed without them stopping he had begun to question their origin.

The ending to this particular version had been interesting, though not the worst by far. Intriguingly all of the dreams ran along the same guidelines but varied massively on some details.

Ryu crossed his arms behind his head, not bothering to move the locks of hair that blotted out one half of his vision.

Only one thing was always the same…

_"You're too late to save her"_

Ryu had spent most of his teens tortured by the memory of those he had hurt or failed in some way, and now it seemed he had another face to add to the list, even though he was sure he had never met her before.

_Does a dream person really count?_, he asked already aware of the answer however illogical it seemed.

"No rest for the wicked", he whispered softly to himself, failing to find any humour in the old saying.

A loud banging on his door shocked him out of his thoughts.

"Ryu? Ryu are you awake yet?", he heard Kanna's voice call from the other side of the flimsy barrier.

Ryu allowed himself to scowl even though she couldn't see it, his expression changing to a small lopsided grin as an idea struck him.

"Dammit it Yui go away, I am not a machine", he grinned as he heard a pause followed by the sound of someone reverse counting outside his door.

Kanna had been doing that ever since the student councillor had called her in to discuss her 'Anger Management Issues', after witnessing her launch him over a small fence with a vicious uppercut.

Kanna had overheard part of a conversation he had been having with Kei in which the other boy had been trying to get him to talk about the various _merits_ of herself and Ayu, and assumed he had been bragging about things to his friends.

Of course the councillor didn't see this misunderstanding as a justification and had threatened to have her enrolment revoked if she didn't learn not to act on her impulses all the time and kept attacking her fellow students.

This new restriction in place, an uncharacteristic mischievous streak had reared its head in Ryu, driving him to test the boundaries of this new safety net whenever the mood struck him.

There was just something about teasing Kanna that he seemed to enjoy, even if it was rather childish of him.

The door slid aside and Kanna, forced smile in place, walked in, glancing down at him as he stared back questioningly, her gaze flicking over his exposed chest before settling firmly on his face, her expression suggesting irritation, but whether at him or herself he had yet to find out.

"Why are you still in bed?", she asked, crossing her arms and frowning at him, "There's only thirty minutes left until we need to catch the train. We don't want to be late".

"_I_ won't be, I have the morning off remember?", he reminded her.

"I know that jerk, but when we all got in, you promised to walk with me and Ayu _every_ day, don't tell me you're going back on your word", she ground her teeth as he shrugged nonchalantly, "Besides, you shouldn't just let two girls go all that way unescorted, there could be train gropers, or muggers"

"Yes, someone should be there to save them from you I suppose", he said, already aware that she was going to get her way, she and Ayu always did with him in most cases, but that didn't mean he was just going to hand her the victory.

He watched as she stiffened trying to hold in the shout that wanted to escape… and failing miserably.

"JERK!", turning on her heel with a toss of her dark hair, she stomped out of his room, slamming the sliding door hard enough to rattle the light fixtures overhead.

Ryu lay there for a few moments before reluctantly standing.

He could always use the spare time to visit the library and do a little extra research for his last project of the winter term, and there were… other, things to think about.

Christmas Eve was fast approaching.

Racking his hair back from his face Ryu stood. He'd leave all his thoughts about the reality of dreams for a less pressing time.

After all, they were only dreams…

* * *

Somewhere, in a small room, a girl with long raven hair sat on her futon, staring listlessly out of the dark room's sole window. 

One slender hand reached out, touching the delicate glass but not jerking back from the icy kiss of its clear surface.

It was snowing again outside, but she wouldn't have minded going out for a while though those in charge of her would never permit it.

That to was ok. Those were the rules after all.

She breathed deeply, a faint smile gracing her pretty face as she gazed out at the white landscape with heavily lidded gold eyes.

In the cold stillness of her room, her musical voice whispered one name…

"…Ryu…".

* * *

---Authors Notes--- 

And there you have it my friends, the beginning of a new adventure. This one will be written slightly differently to my other works, what with dream sequences playing a large part, but I hope you all enjoy this newest addition.

Coming Soon: Chapter 1: The More Things Change…: we catch up with the life and times of the latest generation of tenants as they continue to go about their lives blissfully unaware of what is heading their way…

Till next time, Betweenheavenandhell


	2. Chapter 1: The More Things Change

**A/N**: Two reviews? Come on guys, where's the love here? Tell a friend or something, help me, help you.

Chapter 1: The More Things Change…

Ayu shrugged her shoulders inside her thick coat, trying to release some of the warm air trapped in amongst its layers. The coat had been a gift from Ryu the previous year, but that was not the reason she was wearing it indoors.

There was less then ten minutes left before they needed to leave and Ryu still had yet to make an appearance downstairs.

Kanna had come down a few minutes ago bristling with irritation and cursing out Ryu to anyone who would listen, so she knew the boy they were both in love with was up and in a good mood, though why that always meant he had to rile Kanna up was something she didn't understand.

_Maybe Kanna-chan will just give up if he keeps acting like this_, Ayu's recurring thought came to her with little hope as always. Kanna seemed to get just as big a thrill out of her fights with Ryu as she suspected he did, though she would kill with a look the first person to suggest it.

Sometimes Ayu felt a little jealous of the way Ryu and her friend interacted, though she reassured herself with the fact that he had never overtly shown any favour towards either one of them, although she remained the only one of the pair he had kissed as far as she knew.

And he is always so much more…tender, with me than Kanna-chan, she thought with a small blush, fiddling once more with the wrapping that covered Ryu's breakfast as Kanna's grumbling and pacing filtered in from the living area. 

Ayu sighed to herself, though her thoughts were true, Kanna was not the kind of girl who felt comfortable or natural being anything close to intimate, even with someone she liked. It had been nearly two whole years since Ryu had made that promise to her the night he went to save Kanna, the promise to resolve his feelings for them both and give them an answer once and for all.

At first she had been quietly relieved that he didn't just suddenly pronounce his decision, taking his silence for a form of deep introspection, but over time she had begun to wonder if he truly intended to ever choose between them, as for every event that would seem to sway things in one girl's favour, something else would happen that restored the balance.

Ayu frowned at the meal set out on the table, something that had been prepared and lain out equally by herself and Kanna.

Most disconcerting of all, at times, it seemed almost as if she and Kanna were becoming just as comfortable with this arrangement.

The blue haired girl was reminded of the manga she had found while helping clean out the room that Yui and Chii still shared even now that Chii was into her fifteenth year, presumably belonging to the younger of the Su's, a romance tale that covered the blossoming love between a young girl and boy for whom her best friend also had feelings.

Strangely, unlike the shoujo stories Ayu had read in the past, this one ended with the two friends deciding that rather than lose either the boy they both loved, or each other's friendship, that they would share him, the story ending abruptly shortly there after.

Could such a thing ever work in real life?

_What am I thinking!_, Ayu scolded herself, such relationships weren't allowed in Japan, and besides, she still blushed remembering the implied results of the resolution in Chii's manga on the two girl's friendship.

_Something like that wouldn't happen between me and Kanna-chan, I mean- Why am I thinking about that, we're not going to do what they did in that story. Ryu will choose eventually_, he had to… and besides, it was almost Christmas Eve, and this year she was determined to see through her plan to give him the cake she had prepared.

"A-yu-chan"

Ayu shrieked as long, slender fingers poked the most ticklish spots on her sides in time with the syllables of her name, clasping her arms around her waist and twisting to face her 'attacker'.

Yui grinned at her playfully, the offending digits held up in front of her with no attempt to disguise her amusement at her young friend's reaction.

"My, my, all that blushing and sighing… someone was having naughty thoughts", her smile only widened, flashing her pearly white teeth, when Ayu coloured again and tried to stammer a feeble protest, "Let me guess, daydreaming about a certain dark haired resident that you and Kanna have been dribbling over for the past two years now?".

She waved away Ayu's flustered attempts to get a word in edgewise.

"Say no more, a girl has a right to dream after all", she said with a conspiratorial wink that had Ayu's shoulders sagging in defeat, "Speaking of, where's the stud in question?".

Deciding it was best to gloss over the older woman's choice of phrase, Ayu told Yui that Kanna had tried to get him up already with unknown success.

"I thought I heard her shouting about something near his room, but I figured those two had finally stopped dancing around each other and just gotten down to it", she looked on questioningly as Ayu somehow managed to choke on nothing but air, displaying far to much innocence.

"Yui-senpai!", Ayu pouted in spite of herself as she realised her reaction had been exactly the one the older woman had sort to provoke.

"So tense, if you keep this up both of you will get worry lines and then he won't want to date either of you", Yui teased, smiling in a sickly fashion when she saw the blue haired girl's shoulders slump, the sudden cloud of depression over her at that suggestion almost palatable, "Hey, I was only joking…Erm, say, you haven't seen Chii anywhere have you? She was gone when I got up".

"She left already", Ayu said dully, still a little put down by what she knew had only been a joke on Yui's behalf, but still it hit close to something that was weighing heavily on her mind at the moment.

"Again?"

Chii had been leaving early for school for a number of weeks, though none of the residents quite knew why, and the not knowing was driving Yui crazier than seemed necessary.

It was understandable. With Mizuki studying abroad at a university her parents donated to, and Natsuki having left to return to Okinawa, Yui's two best friends were gone, leaving her with only her cousin as close company. Kanna and herself distracted as they were with a mix of university and personal matters, Ema being anther to Yui's natural, chaotic personality (a strange transformation of the flake known as Ema Maeda that only occurred in the presence of Molmol's eldest princess), and Ryu being Ryu when it came to matters of fun or prolonged conversation.

Because of this, Yui had focused all her considerable efforts and attention onto the younger princess, with the result that without Chii around, she seemed almost lost at times.

"Perhaps she has someone to meet", Ayu suggested, mentally kicking herself as she saw Yui's emerald eyes light up.

"Yes..yes, that's it! She's meeting her secret boyfriend and trying to hide it. Sneaky girl", Ayu smiled weakly as Yui rubbed her chin and nodded proudly, apparently pleased by her cousin's imagined deviousness.

"I never said it was anything like that", Ayu pointed out while Yui began reciting theories about the mystery boy's background, his appearance, how he and Chii had met and so on, seemingly oblivious to the other girl's gentle protests.

"Why not? She's growing up, and getting cuter by the day. If she keeps this up she might even get close to me", Yui struck a pose with one finger against her cheek and winked, "There's nothing to say I'm wrong".

_But there's nothing to say you're right either_, Ayu pointed out silently even as she conceded the point.

Chii had indeed grown and matured, blossoming into a beautiful young woman. Already she had surpassed Ayu's development at that age, though that wasn't hard as the women of her family it seemed were cursed to be slow developers, late bloomers was the oft used term, and she was still young yet.

She currently stood a little under Ayu herself in height and matched her in figure, Ayu's only growth in the past two years having been an extra inch and a half added to her bust-line though that was easily hidden by her current apparel.

She had cropped her hair short and slightly ragged, more practical for working with her machines, her face had lost most of its childish roundness though her eyes still remained naturally wider than the almost slit like lids of her cousin.

She still spoke infrequently, though when she did it was in more than one or two word sentences. However the slightly…drab, quality to her voice remained, the tone that made her seem vaguely disinterested or sleepy, something which had caused trouble with her teachers at school, and alienated her from some of her class, but fortunately not all.

Amongst the young blonde's few true friends was the most unlikely of candidates. Of all those one might have pictured as Chii Su's best friend, Satomi Sagura would have been at the top of few lists.

Bubbly and excitable, and as deeply fascinated with the supernatural as Chii was with science, Satomi sort to explain everything in terms of spirits and super powers, something which Chii openly dismissed no matter how many times she saw either the red headed girl, Kyosuke or Ryu in action, steadfast in her view that all she had to do was figure out the right frequency to scan and all would be explained logically.

How they had become such close friends despite their varied world views and sporadic contact time, Satomi usually visiting with her brother, the only person Yui seemed to dislike more than Chii's dog Chiho-chan, was anyone's guess.

"…whoever he is, he just better behave himself", Yui was saying when Ayu rejoined the conversation.

"I'm sure Chii-chan can take care of herself", Ayu said, thinking of the many strange and dangerous devices invented by the girl genius over the years. The only things she could recall Chii making that didn't have some hidden destructive purpose where the things she had given Ryu.

"And if she needs any help, Chiho-chan is with her", that was another sore spot between Chii and her teachers. The young princess had been smuggling in her pet since he was a puppy, though she had been caught and warned numerous times, and as he grew to his current size, just a little below Chii's waist level, he was becoming increasingly difficult to hide.

When asked to stop bringing him along with her by the headmaster, Chii had simply responded by saying, "Chiho and Chii should always be together".

Apparently, something in the solemn surety of her tone had touched the elderly man and he had just warned her not to bring Chiho onto school grounds in the future.

Yui shuddered visibly, she was still not entirely comfortable with her cousin's canine companion, and was probably as unhappy with the idea of him accompanying her as the 'mystery boy'.

"Ayu, we're going", Kanna stuck her head around the door, her face twisted with impatience but still pretty.

"But Senpai isn't ready yet", was Ayu's automatic response, drawing an eye roll from her friend.

"The big jerk isn't coming down, we'll just go without him", she explained.

"That's not a very nice thing to say", Ryu's voice came from behind her, making her jump, knocking the door open in the process, "And me using my morning off just to keep a promise… I'm hurt".

Kanna's stance as she recovered her wits clearly said _'Not yet, but keep pushing pal'_, but Ryu seemed to be missing the warning signs as he gave her a minute smirk that tweaked a dangerous smile across her own lips.

"Something the matter Kanna-chan?", Yui said, glancing at the younger woman's clenched fist.

She was the only other resident other than Ryu and Ayu who knew about Kanna's probation, and she drew more pleasure teasing her friend about it than Ryu did even on his rare creative days.

"Huh?", she asked following Yui's gaze and quickly flexing her fingers to relax her hand, "Something the matter? What do you mean, nothing wrong here, nothing at all".

No one commented further, and Kanna brushed past Ryu, making sure to elbow him 'accidentally' as she passed despite the suspiciously wide birth he gave her as she made her way out of the room, flicking her hair so that it struck him in the face for good measure. Quite a feat when your target stands near a foot above you in height.

"Senpai", Ayu sighed, Ryu turning a raised eyebrow to her, as close to a playful look of innocence as such a dignified man would permit himself, but still it made her smile.

"I'm leaving!", Kanna's shout galvanised Ayu into motion.

"C-coming!", she hurried to the door, checking her coat and scarf before almost whispering to Ryu, "I'll try to get her to wait a while longer. If you're quick you should be able eat something".

Giving Yui a quick goodbye, the blue haired girl retreated into the living area, her placating voice vanishing as the wooden door swung closed.

"You're towing a fine line with her these days you know", Yui pointed out as Ryu inspected the meal Ayu had left behind, sampling as few mouthfuls and sighing.

_Delicious as always_.

"I know", he responded, forgoing the usual jokes and barbs. One simply did not joke with Yui when she actually became serious about something.

"It's coming up to that time again… do you know what you're going to do this year?", she asked, taking a seat over from him.

"…I…I'm working on it. Things are… complicated".

"True, you've kept those girls waiting on a decision for two years now… I suppose it says a lotabout how they feel that they have waited that long", she mused, keeping a careful watch on him out of the corner of her eyes, looking for even the slightest twitch.

His mouth pulled up in one corner, a faint smile, his artificially blue eyes twinkling with mild amusement.

"I'm not giving you any hints as to what my plans are for this year Yui, you'll just have to wait like everyone else", he deadpanned, humouring her comically innocent expression.

"Who? Me? Ryu-kun, I was just trying to make conversation, I'm shocked, really, I am… but if we're talking about Christmas, any chance I get a sneak peak of what you brought me?", she said, his face betraying his surprise at her sudden disarming tactic.

"You're just a big child really, aren't you?", she laughed at his reply, resting her chin on one hand.

"You know Kei actually asked for a signed photo of you this year", Ryu said, referring to the geeky, but energetic young man who had somehow ended up as his best friend.

"Some men have very good taste", she said, practically preening where she sat.

"… Just be gentle with her", Yui added after a long pause, her tone shifting back to seriousness.

"Which one?", he asked almost as if talking to himself rather than her, but she answered anyway.

"Both, Ayu isn't the only one who's delicate".

Ryu thought back to the time he and Kanna had become linked within his mind, some sort of backlash affect from her touching _Enishi_, or at least, that was the best explanation they had been able to come up with when either of them gathered the courage to broach the subject.

He had seen a side of Kanna only hinted at previously, not just then, but after their return also before it had vanished under her protective abrasive attitude once more.

It reminded him of Ayu in the Cave, which brought forth a whole other set of emotions.

The two girls were like negative reflections, one; steel with a soft, vulnerable core, and the other a china doll encasing an inner fire even she was barely aware of most of the time.

"I have to go, they'll be waiting", as he left Yui called out to him one last time.

"Take care of them, regardless of what happens".

Ryu paused for a moment, something about the way she had said that striking him as odd, but he didn't have the time to dawdle over it.

"…Yeah…".

As the door closed once more, Yui sighed, running her hand through her thick, light blond bangs.

"Secrets and intrigue, or false alarms", she muttered, fingering the letter that resided in the pouch in the front of her ankle length winter skirt, "This cloak and dagger stuff seems so much cooler on TV…I suppose I'm due to write back…".

Thinking of Kei's apparent request, a tantalizing idea crept into her head.

"I bet it would make his day", she chuckled to herself.

This time she'd have something interesting to send back along with her latest letter. All she needed was camera.

* * *

Ryu glanced back and forth between Ayu and Kanna, the latter refusing to meet his eye while the former looked on as if waiting to step in between them at a moments notice.

Ryu shrugged and quickly donned a white coat over his black shirt and trousers, stomping on his boots and hastily tying them as Kanna opened the door and began walking when he was only half done, Ayu smiling apologetically and stepping outside to catch her up.

Finishing his preparations, Ryu jogged lightly outside, his pace slowing to a standstill as he found what awaited him.

Snow.

It must have fallen in the night, for there had been none of it when he went to sleep the previous day, and now it covered the ground several inches thick.

He crunched out into the courtyard slowly, his gaze drifting around his surroundings slowly.

Had this winter landscape followed him from his dreams? It sounded ludicrous and yet, he had dreamed of snow and here it was, the woodland near the Hinata Sou now barring an eerie resemblance to that in his dreams.

Speaks of white danced lazy and sporadic across his vision and he held out his hand, catching one of the infinitely fine crystals on his palm, the feeling of it melting exactly as he recalled in his dream.

"Ryu! Stop daydreaming, we're late already because of you, jerk!", Kanna's reproachful tone broke him out of his reverie and he looked up to find her tapping her foot impatiently near the top of the stairs, her hands tucked beneath the armpits of her simple red coat with the white collar, something passed on from her mother.

Normally he would have shouted something back, but the presence of the snowfall had him feeling strangely disorientated, so, with one last glance at the grey, cloud covered sky, he caught up to the two girls.

Perhaps sensing something was wrong from his distracted countenance, Ayu took his hand cautiously in her own and smiled at him brightly, whispering, "Don't worry Senpai, we're not that late, Kanna-chan isn't as mad as she's pretending".

Unable to hear what they were saying, Kanna frowned as she saw Ayu take Ryu's hand without protest, even drawing one of the small smiles form him that even they rarely saw.

Kanna bit her lip as a wave of emotion she refused to admit was jealousy surged through her, hesitating for a few moments before holding out her own hand toward Ryu without looking back, and feeling herself blush a little when he took it, though luckily the artic bite of the air on her cheeks hid the worst of it.

Ignoring the looks they garnered as always from passers-by, the trio set off to the train station in silence.

* * *

Ryu sat a little way away from the two girls on the train that day. He was lost in thought and both women could tell that there was something he was working through and had wordlessly opted to leave him to his own devices for the time being.

In all honesty, his troubles were neither as dark, nor as dire as he was projecting. Although his dreams still clung to the back of his mind like a malignant cancer, they had been pushed aside once more by more pressing matters.

Namely, what he was to do this Christmas Eve.

The previous year, he had been spared the task of either choosing or refusing to spend that special day with either girl when he had come down sick, instead spending his time with all the residents being force fed the cakes from Ayu and Kanna by the ever helpful Yui, who had appointed herself mistress of holiday cheer in light of the two girls sullen disappointment at the ruination of what should have been a glorious day for one or the other by the common cold.

This year however, things were going to be different, they had to be. As had been pointed out to him, both by himself and others, two years was a long time to keep someone in suspense, though he was vaguely aware that his was not the longest tale to live itself out inside the walls of the Hinata Sou, as Ema would occasionally mention someone named Keitaro whenever the subject arose within earshot.

He had brought two different cakes for the twenty-forth, one for both girls, one for each possible choice…

A lock of raven hair broke loose from where he kept it bound loosely at the nape of his neck, tickling his face as it fell over one eye, but he made no effort to move it, instead gazing listlessly out of the window of the train, his eyes lighting on a familiar bob of blond hair stepping out from behind a series of bushes in the distance, followed swiftly by a large white dog, almost perfectly camouflaged by the snow.

_Chii?_

He always seemed to have trouble recognising her of late, as if her gradual change from the solemn girl that used to follow him with those overly intelligent green eyes, to the striking young woman, destined to be a great beauty when she grew to maturity, had taken him by surprise, though thankfully, Chiho's presence always kick-started his recognition when he forgot.

What was she doing out there? True that this train passed the road she would have to walk to get to her school, but why had she been in the woods rather than walking the path?

Chii was an unusual girl, but nature had never seemed to interest her much so he couldn't really see her deciding to take the scenic route to school.

The train carried on, and soon she had receded into a dot on the horizon and was gone from view a second later.

He spent the rest of the trip puzzling over her sudden appearance and strange behaviour, on some level aware that he was just putting off thinking about the two most pressing matters on his mind, the night of the twenty-forth, and the dreams that still plagued him with the mysterious girl and her female stalker, the one who always struck him down with a deep sense of satisfaction, and whose face in all his dreams he had never once seen.

The call for his station sounded over the speakers in a woman's perky tones and he stood on autopilot, hands thrust deep in his pockets.

Dates and Dreams.

Enigmatic illusions of a stressed mind or thoughts of hotels and Christmas Cake.

If nothing else, Ryu thought as he stepped off the train, belatedly remembering to wait for Ayu and Kanna to join him, his morning off was certainly going to be a busy one.

He glanced across the rooftops tops to the huge onion like structure in the distance, the pinnacle of one of the institutions largest domed buildings and his destination.

"Tokyo U", he muttered with a small shake of his head. It was hard to reconcile the image he still held of himself after all these years with that of the more or less average student at one of Japan's most prestigious universities.

Perhaps that was what these dreams were about, a reluctance to let go of his tragic past, as though, sad that it was, it was all he knew.

_Did I just imagine you so that I would have something new to torment myself with?_ He wondered, picturing the dark haired beauty in his mind's eye, amazed that if true, he could imagine something so real and so stunning.

Ryu drew a deep breath of refreshingly cool air.

No, he would certainly not want for something to do this morning.

* * *

"Today?", Ema asked incredulously as the voice on the other end of the phone repeated its message.

"No, no problem I suppose, I just wasn't expecting this so quickly, I haven't told the others anything yet, I… why not?…Oh…Ok, sure I suppose…", she adjusted her glasses, a nervous habit and pulled gently on one of the many ribbons woven into her hair, a childish extravagance she had never really outgrown.

"Ok, I won't tell anyone, I promise… yes, goodbye".

The wavy haired woman put the phone down carefully, rubbing the bridge of her nose wearily.

"Well, that makes two unexpected guests, though at least this one called first", she said, turning a meaningful look upon her visitor who just smiled brightly and covered her mouth with one hand.

"I suppose we better move all your things up to your room… I wonder who else will show up", she half joked.

A thundering crash shook the house, sending the already uncoordinated manager sprawling, coming within a hairsbreadth of gashing her forehead open on the corner of her desk…again.

Perhaps she should get around to moving that one day.

"Hello! Anyone home!… Ka-chan?", a familiar voice echoed up from the lower floor followed by an angry sounding female voice.

"I had to ask", Ema said, her voice muted by the mat her face was pressed against.

Her guest just giggled.

* * *

---Authors Notes---

Ooooooo, mysteries left and right and it's only the first chapter! Lol  
Coming soon Chapter 2: Friends Old and New: Parents, Gifts, Secrets, Groupies and Twenty-year-old martial arts masters… yeah, just a normal day at the Hinata Sou…

Warning: Chp 2 contains much Chii goodness.

Till Next Time, Betweenheavenandhell


	3. Chapter 2: Friends Old and New

**A/N:** Thank you, to those who have reviewed so far, I'm aware of the troubles of getting a sequel story reviewed in a low view-rate topic, but still, I'd hoped for more than this... oh well.

* * *

Chapter Two: Friends Old and New

_Just breath… There is nothing outside of the moment, all things, future and past mean nothing, I don't exist there, only here…always in the moment…_

In amongst the many areas of natural and conservational woodland that exist around the town of Hinata, there is a clearing… and within this clearing stands a man.

Taller than average, he is muscled but his height makes him seem lithe, and his shoulder length black hair spills down unrestrained over light blue robes those sleeves almost cover his hands as his arms rest by his sides.

His eyes, an impossibly deep brown, are closed at the moment, the only sounds with the clearing the thundering echo of his own breath, and the gentle thud of his pulse in his ears.

_Still the mind, allow everything, even time to come to a standstill_.

His breath slows, becoming quieter and less pronounced until he seems almost like a statue, unconcerned with the snow gathering slowly in his hair and on his shoulders.

_Hold off until the brink of death_, he thought, feeling his body beginning to plead for air, trying to force his heart rate back up, continuing to recite the mantra he had been learning since he was old enough to understand.

So many years ago now it seemed, even though he was only into his twentieth year, it seemed longer sometimes, like he had been made to learn too much too fast.

Fleetingly, the image of an old man standing over him, shouting at him, striking him for a burst of childish defiance, came to him and he allowed the memory, the pain to wash over him.

It was just a distraction, a trick of the mind as it sort to thwart his will. It could be ignored.

Within himself, he allowed his perception to fall inward, toward the beating of his heart.

_Set your intention_, he continued, focusing on the task ahead, _Entrench it firmly within your mind, there is only the moment, this moment, the second of intent… nothing more._

Years ago, Masters had sought the secret that made some of their greatest heroes, so magnificent.

Decades of research had turned up a treasure trove of techniques, both amazing and hideous, some powerful, some so laughably inconsequential it was a miracle that they had never been broken.

However, none of these were beyond the Masters' own power to duplicate, so what was missing?

It was a lowly scribe who discovered the answer. In each of the last great tales of these unprecedented warriors, these brave men and women, had been fighting for something, or toward some goal they valued more than their own lives.

Their will, their _intent_, had driven them beyond the limits of mere mortals, removing the natural safety locks on mind, body and spirit and enabling superhuman displays of power, even amongst those who knew the Special Arts.

It was the knowledge gained from these men, long past, that the _Divine Fist_, had been developed in secret, hidden from all but a few, and passed on to even fewer.

Amongst those esteemed ranks, himself.

When done correctly, his technique would allow a person to fight to the ends of their life, for as long as they had the energy and the means to accomplish their last wish, simulating the indomitable will of the dying man, with nothing left to loose.

He could feel his Ki reaching its peek, slowly fracturing the barrier that kept the majority of it trapped within the body.

_Now_, his thought was neither hurried, nor excited, they required concepts of consequence, of the future or the past… he was beyond such things now.

His desire at its head, he released his Ki

"First divination", his voice was as blank as slate as his right foot glided forth, churning up snow as it anchored him in a stable position, his right palm snapping out as if pushing an attacker away while his left hand made a fist at his side.

Falling snow billowed away from his touch as if caught in a breeze.

Pivoting on his right foot his left hand shot out while the right retracted, the fingers extended and stiffened as he spun before lashing out with the knife-edge of his hand like the blade of a katana.

Dropping low, he allowed the movement to carry him through a low sweep, standing swiftly and drawing his right arm back across his body, his left hand held palm out over the top of it before stepping forward with his left leg and thrusting his palm outward.

"Second divination", he spoke, his voice still as emotionless as before even as his Ki pulse and rage within him, trying to break free of his intent and only driving it faster, making it more powerful with each passing second.

Stepping back he weaved his left hand before him in a complex series of blocks, first rotating the arm outward at the elbow, then snapping it horizontally across himself.

Retreating another step, his arm swung down in a blur, stopping an imagined kick with the underside of his forearm.

He stepped into his fictional foe, his right palm striking directly upwards with what would have been, had his opponent been real, vicious, and bone shattering force.

"Third divination", his voice sounded slightly strained now, muscles trembling as the safeties that restricted their movements fell away.

He could stop here… or he could complete his training, as he should.

Was there really a choice?

Twisting, he drove his elbow back, following that with a powerful snap kick, all of which would have launched a real attacker backward into the nearest tree.

He pivoted once, twice, three times, following the path of his victim and gathering speed and power with his movements.

As his last rotation finished, he launched himself skyward, his right leg axing through the frigid air, directly ninety degrees straight up from his body as the rest of it lay parallel to the ground.

Focusing his intent to its sharpest, he pumped everything he could muster into this final strike, almost fancying he could see his leg begin to glow for a second, a bright and inviting blue.

The snow rippled and crunched beneath him as he impacted and the trees around the clearing rattled their branches as the shockwave hit them.

"Fourth divination", he croaked out in a horse whisper, his throat suddenly feeling as if he had spent all night drinking and his limbs suddenly shaky and unresponsive as he fought himself into a sitting position.

He took a moment to compose himself in the after rush of adrenaline that pounded in his ears, stilling himself to calmness once more.

He hadn't used much of his Ki, but the manner in which he had used it always left him feeling a little weak afterward.

Standing, he tilted his face to the sky, his dark locks spilling back away from his face and allowing the cooling touch of the snow to take the heat that suffused his face in excess, until his skin returned to its normal porcelain tone.

The wind rustled through the undergrowth… or rather, that's what a regular man might have assumed…

"Are you going to come out this time little one?", he spoke, pitching his voice just loud enough to carry to the outskirts of the clearing.

Not a whisper replied to his invitation.

Sighing mightily, he opened deep, warm brown eyes and cast a glance at a dense spot of foliage, an gently amused smile playing across his lips.

"Must you always hide yourself from me?", he asked curiously, waiting.

At first, it seemed as if his silent observer, if there truly was such a person, would simply remain hidden.

He had sensed no ill will from this person, so he supposed he could just leave them be if they chose to remain concealed, but he was intrigued as to why they had been watching him for so long without acting, and not just today…

The bushes rustled, and the watcher stepped out into view.

"Well… this is…unexpected", he said, his smile quirking toward one corner of his mouth as he tried to decide what to make of what he saw.

Before him was a young woman, no, a girl, standing perhaps a head and half again below him in height, with short cropped blond hair cut ragged, almost tomboyish, and startlingly intuitive emerald eyes set into a pretty, tanned face.

Though he had no particular taste for gaijin women, he had to admit, she was quite a beauty, or would be when she grew to full maturity.

Stranger still, she seemed to be wearing the uniform of the local high school with a thick brown suede coat with fir trimmed collar worn over the top.

As he watched, she glanced at something in her hand, her exotic young features contracting slightly as if vexed by what she saw there, and he caught a gleam of silver before she tucked whatever she had been holding in her hand into her coat pocket.

Her gaze, as it returned to him seemed cold, almost emotionlessly calculating, and probably would have unsettled many, but he had his reasons for being unafraid.

Besides, there was an air about her look, something that told anyone brave enough to risk a second glance that she was not purposely trying to intimidate the viewer, but that she knew no other way to appear.

_Or you could just be trying to soften the young lady's image for your own reasons_, he chuckled to himself, amused by the notion.

At the sound of his laughter, the young gaijin cocked her head to one side in an almost animal fashion, her expression enquiring, as though this new slant would gain her insight into his reasoning and actions.

Though, perhaps, looking at those sharp green eyes, it would.

"So little one, to who do I owe the pleasure of addressing?", her head simply moved the other way, but no response seemed forthcoming.

"I am Hayate…", still she did not offer her name.

He shrugged aside her rudeness with a good-natured smile, deciding to try a different track.

"This is not the first time you have come to watch me, is it?", this time he managed to draw a simple shake of the head from the unusually stoic girl, oddly not offered rudely or indolently, but as a simple and direct answer to his question.

"I see…".

The blond glanced at something on her wrist, her eyes shifting back to the woodland for a second.

He could guess what that gesture meant.

"You have to leave now I assume?", he asked and she nodded once before making to go.

"I suppose you'll be here tomorrow as well?", he found himself asking without truly thinking about it.

She paused for a second to look back over her shoulder at him, offering another silent nod.

Next Hayate did something he couldn't quite explain, though he would pass it off later as a simply a passing fancy.

"Perhaps it might be more instructive for you to watch from the clearing next time", from the look on the girl's face, it was clear she was surprised by his offer, as if she had been expecting him to demand her to stay away now that he knew she was there.

She dipped her head once more in acknowledgement and vanished back in amongst the undergrowth.

Hayate watched the spot of her departure for a moment, before a low chuckle rose in his throat.

Shaking his head he smiled as he glanced back at the spot she had vanished.

"What an unusual girl", he muttered, still ceased by mirth as he made his own way out of the clearing and back to the small temple he was staying at.

The was a mystery for another time, right now he had duties to attend to, he would not wish to make he master angry unnecessarily.

* * *

"Chiho-chan", the large white canine bound out of his hiding place at his mistress' call, capering around her nervously and sniffing at her, seeking any sign of injury.

Chii had told him to hide when the man, Hayate, had spotted her somehow, telling him not to come out and to go get help if something bad happened to her.

Luckily it hadn't been necessary, but her friend was still very skittish.

The princess stooped down, taking a few moments to calm him with gentle strokes of his glossy white fir before beginning the long trek back up to the road.

The journey was not long, but it seemed an eternity of clambering carefully amongst bushes and climbing over fallen logs and so on for one not comfortable with mother nature, though the natural limberness she had inherited from her mother saw her out unscathed.

As soon as she had her feet back once more on the wonderfully smooth and reassuringly firm plane of the concrete road that led up to her school, Chii fished quickly into her pocket, retrieving the device stored there and examining it once more.

To the casual observer, it would only appear to be a portable game system, something unusual perhaps to find in the hands of a pretty young girl though nothing truly eye catching. However, it was so much more than that.

Chii rapidly flicked through the multiple screens of the Spiritual Spectrum Analyser MkIX, frowning as graph after graph and reading after reading came back either blank, or perfectly within the bounds of normalcy.

Making a small, displeased sound she stuffed the gadget back into her coat after hitting the off switch, sighing mildly to herself as Chiho wined at her feet, sensing she was unhappy about something.

So her experiment had failed again it would seem, a very disappointing set back, but at least she would have a chance to try again.

She had been surprised that he had allowed her the chance to continue. She knew that most people were scarred of her for some reason, she had known this since she was a child, though Ryu's kind words after her experiment with Mecha-Chiho failed had helped her see that there were those who cared for her no matter what, because of what was in her heart.

She could still remember blushing as he had affectionately patted her head, though her naturally dark complexion and the lack of lighting had stopped anyone from noticing.

"Oni-sama…", she whispered the term she had picked up from Satomi and come to make her own over the years, though she had never called him that out loud, and felt her cheeks heating again.

It was lucky that this Hayate had, unknowingly perhaps, volunteered to help her experiment.

She couldn't ask Satomi after all, her red headed friend wouldn't like the idea of Chii trying to introduce science to her world, and worse, she might figure out why Chii was trying to do so, which would be…problematic…

Kyosuke couldn't be asked by the same token, but for different reasons. He was not a nice man as far as Chii was concerned, and if he were to learn that she was attempting to build a Ki detector for Ryu in case any more assassins were sent after him, what would the purple haired boy do?

He would most likely try to destroy her research before she could present it to Ryu.

She could not allow that, she had made a promise to herself and to Ryu to protect her family, and that included him.

Dimly she was aware of the train passing in the distance on the edges of her vision.

Chii fiddled absently the device in her pocket.

How would Ryu react when she presented him with the finished device?

A beeping from her watch reminder her that she didn't have time to loose herself in thought if she wanted to arrive at school early enough to find a proper hiding spot for Chiho.

"Follow", she said, braking into a light jog as she crunched her way through the snow to school, Chiho lopping after her with an easy stride.

Perhaps if she finished this, she could spend more time on figuring out why Yui kept sneaking around with those strange letters…

* * *

Ryu sat back in his chair, rubbing at dry eyeballs behind closed lids with the tips of his fingers.

On the desk sat a small mountain of heavy texts dealing with the life of a Lord in feudal Japan, duties, privileges, everything the scholars knew was listed in amongst this tower of paper, though having lived in a system that still functioned akin to those described here, her had already spotted a few errors.

He had decided to major in History for his degree, as, after being grilled by Kanna about what he planned to do with his life now that he was free of his curse and more or less shanghaied between her and Ayu into joining the girls in taking entrance exams, it had been the only subject that struck his interest.

He had been born a victim of history, of the oversights of others, and thus he had decided to become a chronicler of the ages in hope that his work would help prevent the tragedies that had befallen him and his family from occurring again.

It had sounded a wise and noble goal before he had learned of the shear amount of work involved, but still, he was not the kind to quit anymore, and it kept his thoughts from straying on the subject of dreams or affairs of the heart, so he would keep going.

Ryu glanced warily at the tittering pile next to him.

Even if it killed him.

A gentle chiming drew him from dark musings about burning down the grand library in which he sat, and brought his attention to the antique clock sitting on the wall above the main reception desk, the clock currently ringing one in the afternoon.

It was that time already! He was supposed to meet the girls for lunch in ten minutes, the agreed upon, by them, not him, time for them all to eat because it was the only time the two women's courses, Kanna's Track Scholarship course and Ayu Food Prep degree course, both left them with time to spare.

Having blown them off accidentally before, he knew missing the time was not an option. He was not sure which had been worse, Kanna's angry shouting, or Ayu's quiet disappointment.

"Kuso", he cursed, ignoring the irate look he drew from the librarian, and elderly and traditional woman with grey hair pulled back in an almost clichéd, server bun.

Hastily heaping his books back on the returns trolley he gather his notes, taking a little longer to properly arranged and file them, before taking off as fast as dignity would allow.

However, in his haste he made one fatal mistake, he forgot to check who was in the area when he stepped outside.

"Ryu-sama!", the first call jerked him like a subtle application of high voltage, and he tried to keep walking naturally as if he were someone else, hoping the shouter would assume she was mistaken, and he knew it was a she.

The call was echoed by a different voice, and another, and another, each one getting closer to his location.

Knowing that there was no escape now short of openly running, and option not even worth considering, he halted, plastering an impassive look over his face and turning to greet the four young women jogging toward him.

When he and Kanna had entered Toudai for their first year before Ayu had joined them a year later, they were not the only ones to succeed in gaining entry.

Amongst those from their old school, had been Kei, Ryu's best friend now studying Art/Design and Production, Kanna's friend Mai, currently unofficially dating Kei and on the same course.

However, there had also been a small number of what Kanna referred to as his 'diehard' fans from high school that had followed him for some reason, though Kanna quietly maintain that it was because he was taking so long to make a choice they thought they had a chance to intervene.

The four girls; Mayuka, Yuki, Koyomi, and Chisa, had formed the core of the embarrassing fan club that had raised him to demi-godhood back then, though thankfully, they had lost that air of worshipfulness even if their interest in him seem undiminished.

"Hey", he said with a half-hearted wave, trying to look busy and hoping they would take the hint… they didn't.

"Are you free right now Ryu-sama?", Yuki asked, her twin ponytails bouncing as she looked up to ask, "If you're going to lunch we can go with you if you want".

_Straight for the throat_, he thought, surprised that any of them were being that direct. Usually they would insinuate with plenty of room for him to offer an noncommittal let down and escape. What was different?

It struck him. Usually whenever he had encountered them previously, by either accident or design, he would have Ayu, Kanna or both with him or somewhere nearby.

"Yeah, come on Ryu-sama, our treat", Koyomi offered, adjusting the band that held back her short hair, the other two pitching in their agreement.

_Trapped_, he thought, looking around for a way out and finding none.

"Pleeeeaasssseeeee", the four girls said at once, leaning closer to him with varying pleading expressions.

"… Hey, what's that?", he asked, looking into the crowd behind them and affecting a look of bewilderment.

_What the hell am I doing?_, he asked himself, _No one falls for such cheap tricks in real life, this is Kei's fault_.

"What are we looking for?"

Ryu almost collapsed; all four women were looking in the direction he had indicated, displaying either a shocking level of trust in their idol, or a ridiculous amount of naivety.

_You must be joking…_, he thought as he took the opportunity to slip away into the crowd, trying to ignore the looks he received from those he passed.

Just when he thought he had made it far enough he heard a startled cry from behind him.

"Oh no! Ryu-sama is gone", came Mayuka's distressed voice.

"Quickly, find him!", Chisa answered.

_Oh great, now it's a hunt!_, Ryu thought irritably, pushing his way deeper into the crowd only to find his path blocked by a large cart piled high with clothes, wigs and other costumes.

"Ryu? What are you doing on the floor?", He looked up to find Kei leaning on the cart with a bemused smile, "Hiding from Kanna again?".

Normally Ryu would have fired something back as Kei traded looks with the cart's handler, Mai, but a cursory glance showed that the girls were already advancing through the crowd though he didn't think they had spotted him yet.

"I don't have time for this", he growled, glancing at his watch.

Only five minutes left.

As he went to step past the bewildered looking pair, something in the crate caught his eye.

A longish black wig sat atop a white jacket not all that dissimilar to the one he wore.

Grabbing the garments, a plan forming, he hauled Kei over to himself and slapped the wig haphazardly on his head.

"Not bad", he muttered handing the confused boy the jacket and sparing another look around.

The girls were getting closer.

"Put that on…quickly!", tapped his foot as Kei shrugged on the jacket, unsure as to where his friend was going with all of this.

"Can I ask what's going on?", he asked glancing at his friend's hands as he gripped him by the shoulders.

"Your sacrifice will not be forgotten"

Kei blinked, wondering what Ryu was talking about. It was then he spotted Yuki over Ryu's shoulder, his face reflecting his horror as he mentally connected the dots between her presence and the disguise he had been made to wear.

"Ryyyyuuuuuuuuuuuuu!", was all he could get out before he was shoved roughly in her direction, the rest of his shout drowned out by her excited squeals as he took the only option left to him at this point and ran.

Being caught pretending to be Ryu by these women was not an option.

"Oh, poor Kei", Mai said, looking on sadly as he ran for his life.

"I'm sorry, I'll make it up to him later", Ryu promised as he ducked away into the crowd once more, knowing his little distraction wouldn't last for long.

He kept going until he could no longer hear the girls shouts or Kei's screams before coming to a rest.

He looked at his watch once more.

Two minutes left and the café they ate at was on the other side of the campus.

Great, what else can go wrong? 

By now, Ryu should have learned the fundamental law of the universe, never question your own fortune; it can only make it worse.

It started as a faint rumbling in the distance, something barely noticeable, but all to soon it was clearer, the screeching of an engine stuck in the wrong gear and doing to many revs combined with squealing tires and tortured brakes.

"What in the world?", he asked, wondering where such a sound could be coming from. There were no public roads in this part of the campus.

He looked right, his face going from confusion, to realisation, to horror as he saw the mini-van barrelling down toward him and the barrier he sat in front of.

With no time to think he drew on his Ki, shifting himself into a world where time was but a crawl and leapt aside.

As times flow returned to normal, he watched as the out of control mini-van struck the posts, flipping up and over as if somersaulting before rolling across the ground and coming to a stop against the wall of the admin building with a mighty crash and settling peacefully as if it had just been parked there.

Ryu rushed over, unsure as to what he could do for the most like injured or dead driver, but spurred on to help anyway.

As he reached the vehicle, the passenger door swung wide, almost smacking him in the face, and from the smoky interior a man emerged.

Though his long white overcoat was ragged and torn and his head fountained blood from a savage looking gash in his forehead, the driver seemed overjoyed about something, chuckling to himself ruefully, even as he tottered dangerously on shaky legs.

"Wow, that was a bad one, I think even Seta would have a hard time topping that…ugh, Naru is going to kill me though, they said one more crash like this and no insurance company will touch me", Ryu had to wonder if the man was seriously concussed, he didn't seem all that concerned about what had just happened or how close he had come to death.

"Oh, hi there, I didn't hit you did I?", he asked, noticing Ryu's presence for the first time after cleaning the blood from his glasses, absently taking a roll of strangely convenient gauze and bandage from his pocket.

"Er, no, you didn't… Are you ok?", Ryu asked, noticing that even as he applied it, the blood flow from his wound seemed to be slowing.

"Never better, happens all the time", he replied with a sheepish laugh.

"…All the time…"

_Where did this lunatic come from?_, Ryu wondered.

"Hey!", both men turned to see a greying security guard shaking his fist angrily in the direction of the van driver, "You again is it! I should have known!".

"Uh-oh", the van driver said, quickly grabbing the keys to his vehicle and ceasing a handful of Ryu's sleeve, "Quickly my boy, run for it!".

"Wha- Why me!", Ryu shouted as he was dragged along behind the delusional man, but his cry was unanswered as the security guard began shouting into his walkie-talkie for backup.

* * *

For the next few minutes, Ryu found himself chased through hedges, over fences and down corridor after corridor by what seemed to be the whole of campus security, led, to use the word generously, by a goofily smiling madman who either by plan or by accident, managed to find every female restroom or changing room available in the course of their escape, each time mistaking the clearly labelled rooms for a good hiding spot, and being mercilessly pummelled by the less than impressed women inside for his 'mistake'.

What have I gotten myself into? I've been put on the run with a demented pervert! This was not how this day was supposed to go!

"Quick, in here!", the driver shouted, grabbing his arm and dragging him inside before he could object.

Rapidly closing the door, they rested against it, listening intently as the heavy sounds of booted footfalls came and went before simultaneously breathing a deep sigh of relief.

"Not bad young man", the driver wheezed around a wide smile. Ryu just stared at him incredulously.

Both of them jumped as a hand clapped down on each of their shoulders, spinning to face the one who had caught them.

"Ok, what's going on her- Dad?", Kanna blinked in surprise, recognising the two 'culprits' she had caught.

Behind her Ayu adjusted the food-laden tray she was carrying as she made her way over, "Mister Urashima?".

Behind her, a number of people sat at tables or stood in a line that snaked around the room, a few offering the newcomers a cursory glance before returning to their meals.

_So I made it to the café after all_, Ryu thought as what the two girl shad just said caught up with him, _Wait a minute, 'Dad'?_

"You're Kanna's father?", he asked dumbfounded.

"Opps, forgot to introduce myself in all the excitement didn't I", he said, rubbing the back of his head and looking abashed at his lapse in escapee etiquette.

"Sorry about that. I'm Kanna's Father, Keitaro Urashima. Nice to meet you".

* * *

---Authors Notes---

And there you have it, coming next: Chapter 3: Reunions or Heartache: Everyone is gathering at the Hinata Sou to celebrate the holidays, but will it be a time of joy, or sorrow? "_Nothing makes the Heavens weep, like Love to Hatred turned…_"

Till next time, Betweenheavenandhell


	4. Chapter 3: Reunions or Heartbreak

**A/N:** Sorry about the long wait, more details at the end of the chapter. You all have Ruto to thank for reminding me about this story so don't forget to thank the dude ok. 

On with the show:

**Chapter 3: Reunions or Heartbreak**

For a moment, no one spoke, everything took on a deathly silence for Ryuuya as his mind dropped the ball and his mouth failed to even babble something from memory to pick up the slack.

Perhaps he was merely stunned to realise this clearly insane older man was Kanna's Father, though a history of insanity in the family may have explained a few things. Or maybe he was simply out of breath from running so far; only, such a short run should not have winded someone trained in the special arts.

Another, remote possibility, one he was doing his best to ignore, was the fact that this man was the patriarch of the woman with whom he was currently embroiled in the midst of a soap opera-esk love triangle with…

"Dad, this is Ryuuya Sagura", Kanna stepped in, sparing him a '_get your act together, this is my Father moron_', look briefly as Keitaro turned to shake hands with the younger man.

"Pleased to meet you sir", Ryu said, cursing how stiff and formal he sounded. He was only greeting the man, not asking to marry Kanna.

Ryuuya blinked rapidly. Now where had that thought come from?

From the corner of his eye he saw Ayu eye him strangely for a moment, glancing swiftly back and forth between him and Kanna her small lips pursed as if she had read his mind and was worried by what such a thing might mean.

"Glad to meet you as well my boy" Keitaro spoke only half heard as Ryu took a step toward Ayu, more to reassure her than to distance himself from a potentially parentally enraged Father he told himself, "Ka-chan has told us a lot about you".

Ryuuya froze, "…Is that so?".

Responding to his distress without really thinking what she was doing, Ayu stepped closer, brushing her hand against his while disguising it as a gesture meant to turn him back to face Keitaro. One the other side of Ayu, Kanna frowned.

Under normal circumstances Ryu might have squeezed her shoulder or offered her a small smile as thanks, but right now he was too distracted and hoped she'd understand the lack of response.

Ryu was proud that he didn't start sweating or panic blindly like the protagonist from one of Kei's overdone manga plots, but he was still concerned. What had Kanna told her parents about their situation? Surely she hadn't informed them that she was in a sort of unspoken competition with her best friend for the affections of young man who was, until recently, the host to one of the most vile demons ever to scrape his way out of hell.

Unfortunately he knew Kanna made a point of blunt honesty, and he couldn't see her as the type to lie to her parents even if it meant that by doing so she protected her chances of winning him over some day.

Equally so, Ayu was a terrible lair. All it would take would be the wrong question phrased the wrong way and anything the Urashima's didn't already know would come spilling forth in a confused babble.

In short, Ryu was screwed.

"Yes, you're Motoko's boy right? How is your mother doing these days?", Keitaro's smile never wavered, if he was hiding his outrage he was doing it well.

"Yes sir, she's fine", he responded woodenly, grunting when Kanna managed to swing a kick around behind Ayu that connected sharply with the back of his leg. It was her less than subtle way of saying '_You're blowing it!_', and all he could do was hold what he hoped was an open and welcoming expression on his face while mentally growling, _I'm doing my best_.

When the second kick came he almost jumped. It had clearly conveyed the message '_Try harder_'. With Ayu he might sometimes wonder if her almost empathic ability to connect to those she cared with allowed her to read his mind sometimes, but with Kanna it was something else. They still hadn't dared test for any residual side effects of the _Enishi_ incident.

Ryu found himself wondering, if she dreamed of fields of endless white also…

"That's good, I was worried about her after… well, after your Father passed on", though his words were kind they still raked at Ryu's innards like hot knives. He still had yet to forgive himself for Koichi's death, and doubted he ever would entirely.

Something in his voice clicked for Ryu, a strange sense of familiarity had been used when mentioning his Father…

"You… knew my Father sir?", he asked, curious.

"You could say that my boy, you could say that", Keitaro said with a mock mysterious grin that soon dissolved into another wide smile, "I was still the landlord of Hinata Sou when your Father arrived looking for your Mother after close to twelve years of separation. I was also one of the people who helped him celebrate his engagement".

Kanna rolled her eyes in an affectionate way and mocked punched her father as he chucked to himself, his eyes misty with memories.

"Your Father was a good man Ryuuya, always a warm smile and a joke… all the more tragic that he should die of a stroke at such a young age", Keitaro sighed, clapping a surprisingly strong hand on the younger man's shoulder.

Ryu did his best to ignore the sensation of Kanna and Ayu's eyes upon him. They were most likely wondering how the elder Urashima had come to be so misinformed. Having learned of everything that had happened in the worst possible way, they didn't know about the false story the council had forced his Mother to circulate at the time amongst those closest to the Clan but not a part of it, such as the Urashima's and by that time, his estranged Aunt and her Lover, Ayu's Mother Shinobu Maehara.

The council had resolutely refused to let anyone more than necessary know that leader of their people had been cut down by his own demon possessed spawn, though they readily told anyone with a grudge against the Sagura family within the Clan.

Still, it showed that Keitaro had been closer to his family than he had at first thought, believing him only to be a distant friend of his Mother's seeing as both she and his Father rarely spoke about the Urashima's. Then again if what Ayu had cryptically referred to that day on the park bench was indeed something real and not just a shared dream, then perhaps Kanna really had been brought to the family estate when he was a child, which would imply this man was much closer to his family than he had believed.

However, that also meant he was more likely to react badly if he ever learned the true cause of his friend's death, another strike in the column of factors suddenly conspiring against his chances of making a decision before something tore him, Kanna and Ayu apart…

"You remind me of him a little, your faces are similar…", Keitaro paused for a moment, adjusting his glasses and peering at Ryu a little closer, seeming not to notice how the younger man tensed as if expecting some sort of attack, "But your eyes are the wrong colour. I thought it was a trait passed down in your family, I've never met a Sagura with blue eyes before".

Ryu thought of lying, saying that they were a trait from his Mother's side, but anyone familiar with the Aoyama line knew that its women were the poster for the Japanese complexion, all boasting straight black hair and deep brown eyes capped off by pale, almost porcelain skin. Instead he simply chose the explanation that best fit his age.

"They're cosmetic, faux contact lenses, simply a whimsical fashion accessory", he said affecting a faint smile and as relaxed a pose as he could manage.

"If you're here, where's mom?", Kanna interrupted, not wanting to risk allowing her Father to fall into a lecture about 'snazzy' eyewear as he was increasingly prone to do now that he and his mentor, Seta seemed to have entered into a silent contest to see who could buy the most stylish glasses. Yet another thing to drive both their respective wives a little crazier.

"Naru? Oh, she's back at the house checking on Ema and the new tenants, she seemed busy so I left a note and went for a drive, before I knew it here I was, running into Ryu here", he flung an arm around Ryu like an old war buddy.

Kanna half smiled, wary of Ryu's displeased expression, whether over the sudden hug or more possibly knowing her Father some omission hidden within that last statement, she didn't know, but pleased on some level to see her Father and the object of her affections getting along.

A sidelong glance at Ayu's poorly concealed discontent stifled the rest of the grin. Despite the fact that they were supposed to be rivals, neither girl could really stand to see the other unhappy at her expense.

This small pleasure denied her, she was forced to focus back on the task at hand. Namely, finding out ahead of time if she was going to have to deal with a panicked and angry Mother yet again, because her Father's sudden disappearance had scared her and then, like her daughter, mad because she had been scared.

As long as she could recall, her Mother had never liked being left alone without being warned first, especially by her Father. This abandonment issue would become even stronger around certain people or places, such as her aunt Mutsumi or whenever they came to the Hinata area in general. In fact, she even had a vague memory of a place far away, with lots of woodland where they had gone once with Ayu's parents…

"In other words you snuck out cause you know mom has more sense than to let you wonder off on your own when it comes to anything that doesn't involve digging up old pots", she said folding her arms over her chest.

As biting as those words may have seemed, having seen the unchecked Keitaro in action, Ryuuya was entirely sure he disagreed.

"You know, I was told daughters were supposed to comfort their Fathers in their autumn years", Keitaro said, scratching the back of his head absently.

"When you get there dad, we'll work something out", Kanna smiled, raising up on her tip toes to give her Father a quick peck on the cheek, "But for now, I'll call mom to let her know your with us while Ryu finds us a free table".

"Since when was I reduced to table duty?", Ryu asked.

"Since I asked Guidance and they told me it was the only vocation suited to you", Kanna fired back, planting her hands on her hips and daring him to fight back.

Forgetting for a moment who he was in the presence of, Ryu squared up to her, his eyes glinting as he flicked through a list of quick comebacks.

"I think I see a table over there", Ayu pointed out, ever the peacekeeper, carefully taking Ryu's elbow to steer him away and towards a seat while balancing the tray that carried both her and Kanna's meal.

It wasn't until he had reached the table Ayu had chosen next to the window, affording them a view across the campus, that recent events caught up with Ryu and he almost missed his seat on the way down.

"It's quite alright my boy", Keitaro chuckled, perhaps sensing what was troubling him, "She gets that from her Mother, the Narusegawa's are all very strong women by nature, though they mellow with age… sort of".

Unsure what to make of that comment, Ryuuya opted to remain silent, picking at the spare salad Ayu nudged his way with a comforting smile.

For a minute or two, they enjoyed a companionable sort of quiet and Ryu was finally able to unwind a little.

His mind began to drift and he began mentally ticking off everything he had managed to do that day, reminding himself to finish composing his notes and hand them in before the day was over.

"Senpai", a gentle voice _tsk_ed, dragging him out of his own mind and back to the present.

"Hmm?", he asked inelegantly, looking down at Ayu, wondering why she was fighting the urge to smile.

"You, um… here…", she reached up with one finger as if planning to poke him, carefully pressing the digit against his cheek and removing it with a small piece of dressing drenched lettuce stuck on the end, "This was stuck there"

Ryu considered the tiny piece of vegetable for a moment before giving into one of his rare impulsive urges and carefully snagging it off her finger with his lips and swallowing it.

Strange how good food can taste when accompanied by the cute squeal of a startled girl.

"Glad to see everyone's having fun", Kanna's icy voice shattered the moment and almost set him choking on the lettuce.

He answered her even stare with an equally impassive one, annoyed that he couldn't deny a brief flutter of something akin to guilt as she took a seat, not next to her Father as he would have expected but on the opposite side of him as was customary these days.

The absence of conversation that usually accompanied these moments was broken however by the last question he would have wanted posed at that moment, and by possibly the last person he would have wanted to give an answer either too or in front of.

"So, how long have you two been dating?"

Ryuuya's head jerked up sharply, a few of his raven locks breaking free of their confinement and lashing over one eye.

Keitaro's strangely unreadable smile was focused solely on Ryu, looking neither left at Kanna, or right at Ayu, giving away no indication of which pair he had been referring to.

On either side, both girls had gone still, waiting to see if Ryu himself would choose a name. It felt as if every eye in the room had suddenly turned his way, hoping to see the long awaited moment of truth.

"Sir? I'm not sure what you mean…", Ryu opted to play it safe, swallowing at the almost palatable disappointment flowing off the two women beside him.

"You and Ayu-chan", Keitaro said still smiling, resting his chin on one hand.

Although naming one of the girls himself put Ryu past that particular minefield, he didn't need the swift pinch Kanna gave him to remind him not to let her Father form any conclusions about his attachments.

"M-me and S-senpai?", Ayu's face was slowly changing shade, and the return of her stutter showed just how little help she would be in correcting his mistake.

Something in her choice of words seemed to affect Keitaro for a moment, but whatever it was passed quickly allowing Ryu to move things forward.

"We're not dating…", he made a note to make it up to the small blue haired girl later for saying that so directly, but he could afford no misunderstandings, whispering almost without realising it, "…not exactly…".

Ayu smiled weakly, nodding in agreement while Kanna seemed torn as to what to do.

"Really? Its just that you two seemed so…. Oh well, my mistake I guess", Keitaro said, laughing sheepishly and massaging the back of his head again, "Did you get through to your Mother Ka-chan?".

"… Hmm? Oh, right. Yeah, she hadn't noticed you were gone yet luckily, apparently she was helping with something or other, sounded big though she wouldn't give me any details… Knowing mom I'm not sure whether to be curious or scared", both Father and daughter shared a secret smile. Though Naru Narusegawa as she was now was one of the most dignified and beautiful women you could hope to meet, when she got stressed enough she reverted to earlier, less… graceful, patterns of behaviour.

"I suppose I should go help, though your Mother will probably tell me to stay out of the way. We'll catch up properly later Ka-chan, you as well Ayu-chan, and I hope to speak more with you as well Ryu-kun", Keitaro eased himself up out of his chair, waving farewell as he left.

As soon as he was out of sight, Ryu let out a long breath he hadn't realised he'd been holding.

"That was… interesting", he blinked in surprise when he felt a pair of soft lips press against his cheek. His hand over the spot that had just been kissed, he turned to face Kanna as she picked at her meal, only a faint blush giving away the fact that she had ever done anything.

He raised a quizzical eyebrow when she glanced at him, receiving a shrug that was trying too hard to be casual.

"I'm just happy that you didn't totally screw that up, so don't get cocky… and don't get any weird ideas…", she said, seemingly trying to hide behind her own hair like Ayu once would have, "Jerk".

* * *

The train ride back was considerably more lively than the trip that morning had been, Ayu and Kanna talked about all the things they were going to talk about with her parents like a pair of sisters who had been away from their family too long, while Ryu listened in, curious as to their chatter having never really been separate from his close family until recently and even now, years of emotional suppression making it hard to comprehend some of their eagerness.

One more scar…

When the subject drifted to Ayu's parents, she sadly informed them that her Mothers wouldn't be visiting, but that she hoped to go visit them before the Christmas period was over, her mention of that particular word causing a awkward pause she did her best to overcome, speculating on who might come back to the Hinata Sou this year.

No one had heard anything from either Natsuki or Mizuki for months, Sara was on her honeymoon with a man she had met a year ago when he had broken down outside her café and as far as they knew none of the other older generation residents were coming back, that included Chii's Mother and Yui's to a lesser extent, as well as Mizuki's Mother a woman none of them had ever met called Kitsune, and of course, Ryu's own Mother.

"Aren't you going to go back home to visit her Senpai?", Ayu asked when the subject came up, "I'm sure she misses you".

"I don't doubt that… but she'd be the only one… I'm not sure I can face that again yet, and besides, I'm a little busy with things here at the moment".

"What do you mean?", Ayu blushed when he gave her and Kanna a pointed look.

"…Does that mean this whole mess is going to be sorted out this year?", Kanna spoke quietly, her gaze unfocused and staring out of the window as the landscape blurred by.

Ryu leant back in his seat, his head reclining against the hard fabric so that it was almost as if he were addressing the ceiling when he spoke.

"One way or another", he breathed, snowflakes whipping past his field of vision. They were getting closer to the station now.

"That sounds kind of ominous", Kanna noted, frowning when he only shrugged, continuing to watch the snow.

"Yeah… I guess it does".

* * *

When the trio of students reached the top of the Hinata Sou's stairs that day, they were greeted by a curious sight.

Waiting outside in a thick fir lined coat and trousers the same colour as the snow, her four-legged companion at her side, snorting impatient jets of steam into the increasingly cold air, was Chii.

Though it wasn't unheard of for her to wait for Ryu to come home on occasion if she had made something for him, there was an air of expectation about the young girl that wasn't directed at the Hinata Sou's latest resident.

"Chii-chan?", Ayu called out when they were close enough, drawing a short bark from Chiho, "Yes and Chiho-chan too. What are you both doing out here?".

"She's right, it's cold, you'll get sick", Ryu warned, patting her head absently, something tingling on the edge of his senses for a moment.

"Don't do that, she's not a little girl anymore", Kanna chided him, batting his hand away even though Chii hadn't objected.

"Chii was waiting for you", the young blond announced, remembering at the last moment to address all of them, not just Ryu, "There are some people waiting to see you".

"What kind of people?", Ryu asked suspiciously. He hadn't sensed anything dangerous, but then again it could have been someone who knew how to hide themselves, and with the loss of his demonic abilities, some of his other senses had been dulled as well.

"Follow", Chii said simply, sliding the door open just enough to allow them all to slip through single file while keeping the cold out as much as possible.

The living room was silent when they entered, not a soul to be seen anywhere, something that very rarely happened at this time of day.

"Chii-chan", Kanna spoke, looking around slowly, gradually becoming aware as Ryu was, that the lack of sound wasn't just limited to the living area, "Where is everyone?".

"Kitchen"

Pausing outside the door, Chii made a gesture for the three to continue through first, like some medieval wizard beckoning their knights forward in preparation for some grand quest.

Shrugging to Kanna and Ayu in response to their questioning looks, he pushed the door aside and stepped through.

"Surprise!", was the near deafening call that greeted him and the girls upon their entrance.

The table had been lain out ready as if for a feast, but that was not what held their notice, it was the diner guests that had their attention. Around the table were the expected faces; Ema, Yui and Kanna's parents, with Chii slipping around the stunned group to take a seat at her cousin's side, Chiho in tow.

There were also two very familiar faces that none of them had expected to see.

"I think the joy of seeing us again is just too much for them Yui-chan, look, they're speechless", the sandy haired blond seated on Yui's other side commented, tipping her sake dish toward the group and offering a slit eyed grin. Her Japanese sounded slightly odd and her once short hair now spilled in sandy waves down to her mid back, but there was no mistaking the speaker for anyone other than Mizuki Sekata, daughter of Mitsune and Kentaro Sekata and former resident of the Hinata Sou.

"Ara, I think you may be right Mizuki-chan", the second of their unexpected guests giggled, adding with a slight pout, "But I thought Ryu-kun at least would be happier to see us".

Ryu shook his head a few times, but Natsuki Otohime remained exactly where she was seated next to Ema, still as happy and impossibly, erm, beautiful, as ever.

"You can sit down you know", Yui piped up with an amused grin when none of them moved from the doorway, prodding them into motion. Ayu and Kanna took seats opposite Kanna's parents, putting Kanna alongside Mizuki, while Ryu was left with the space between Natsuki and the rather stunning older woman with long auburn hair he assumed was Kanna's mother.

"When did you two get back?", Kanna asked, the shock slowly fading and leaving behind curiosity and the first seeds of excitement.

"She", Ema replied before the other two women could respond, poking Natsuki with her finger, "Turned up just after you three left this morning, didn't even call to tell me first. I found her wondering around looking for Ryu-kun".

"For me?", Ryu asked, confused. It still sometimes took him by surprise when people willing tried to interact with him after years of being avoided, especially now considering that Natsuki was closer to the other girls than to him, having known them longer.

"Of course you, I wanted to know if you'd made a decision yet?", her simple question forced his stomach into knots for the second time that day.

"Decision?". He feigned confusion, mentally telling her to stop, hoping she would pick up on his thoughts like Kanna and to a lesser extent Ayu seemed able to sometimes.

It didn't work.

"Yes, about your girlfriend", she said, highlighting the last word with an almost teasing tone.

Around the table, eight people attempted to lean forward without being obvious.

"I…", he took a slow breath and released it, "I don't have a girlfriend Natsuki".

"Ara? Really Ryu-kun?", she spared Kanna and Ayu a sympathetic glance that Ryu was glad Kanna's parents couldn't see before her face resumed its usual cheery expression, "Then I guess that means I still have a chance doesn't it Ryu-kun".

Leaning forward she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, giggling almost shyly at his blank expression.

Mizuki whistled appreciatively while the others excluding Kanna, Ayu and strangely, Yui, laughed.

"Just something to think about", Natsuki added innocently, smiling brightly.

"I have to go", Kanna stood, almost knocking her chair over in her rush to stand, and sweeping out of the room before anyone could stop her, her mother calling out to her in concern.

"Kanna", Ryu and Ayu spoke at the same him, his eyes meeting hers only long enough for her to give an almost imperceptible nod before he too stood and gave chase, leaving the dining room muted.

"Eto… was it something I said?", Natsuki asked worriedly, wondering why no one but the Mizuki and the Urashima's would meet her gaze, and finding no answers there.

"It's ok Natsuki, I'm sure Kanna-chan was just feeling unwell. Lets eat, they'll be back in a minute", Ema said gently, gesturing for the others to follow suit.

As everyone ate Naru cast and enquiring glance at her husband to which he could only shrug.

Eventually the conversation started again, Mizuki recounting her many stories of life as an exchange student in America and everyone laughing with her, Keitaro even recalling a few of his own experiences, but no one could miss the two very empty seats at the table…

* * *

Ryu eventually caught up to Kanna on the laundry annex, finding her resting against the railing, seemingly unaware of the snow beneath her arms or the frigid temperatures as she stared listlessly out over the blanketed courtyard.

He approached her wordlessly, stopping next to her and resting a hand on her shoulder which she shrugged off without looking a him.

"Kanna…"

"What do you want Ryu, I'm trying to think", she muttered, still refusing to look at him.

"Your parents are waiting for you downstairs…", even to him it sounded lame, but his brain couldn't come up with anything better. Usually when Kanna was angry she got loud and very verbal, this was something new.

"I'll be down later"

"It's cold… you shouldn't be up here", he felt his frustration mounting but held his cool.

"Thanks _mom_, I hadn't noticed", she spat out sarcastically.

Ryu felt his temper threaten to snap, but he reigned it in, "Kanna, if you're mad at me just say so. Natsuki was only joking, and what I said… it's the truth at the moment… isn't it?".

Kanna sighed and turned to face him, her eyes brimmed with tears, "You know, the sad part is I really don't know anymore. Sometimes I think that you've already chosen…".

She reached out slowly, stroking his warm cheek with her icy cold hand, "That you and Ayu are just too polite to tell me to wake up and get lost, and that scares me bad enough, but then other times I think maybe it's the other way around, and somehow… its not any better".

Her hand dropped back to her side, "So which is it? Are either of us really close to you at all? Or are we both there like some of the rumours back in highschool used to say and we just don't see it?"

"…Kanna", he took a step toward her but halted when she backed away.

"You know, ever since that night in the warehouse, I've felt connected to you in a way I can't explain. Sometimes I wonder if its all a strange dream, and then something like today happens, I meet someone I knew before this happened and… it's like I'm waking up and being forced to realise I haven't moved anywhere expect in my own mind", a silent tear trickled down her cheek, but she backed away once more when he moved to comfort her, "Perhaps I don't want to wake up, but I think I will soon, and then I'll have to face the truth… Dreams can never be real… can they?".

Ryu thought of his own recurring dream, of the girl in the snow who called out to him every night.

"I don't know…", he replied honestly, "But, I'm trying to understand everything, I promise".

Kanna smiled sadly, walking past him to stand near the top of the stairs and looking back over her shoulder.

"I know, stupid jerk… … thank you, for caring", with a half-hearted smile she was gone, leaving him alone with his thoughts.

Ryu turn back to the railing she had leant against, resting his hands in the grooves left by her arms. It seemed his time was running out faster than he had thought and soon his decision might be taken out of his hands.

"Kuso", he muttered.

"Mind if I keep you company?", a voice asked, Ryu turning and startled to find Keitaro standing at the top of the annex stairs.

When he nodded, the older man made his way over, hands thrust deep in the pockets of his ever-present white lab coat to protect them against the cold.

How much of the conversation with Kanna had he just heard, Ryu wondered, and what, if anything, would he make of it?

"Brrr, it's cold tonight", the elder Urashima observed, a small smile present as he gazed over the view Ryu was pretending to be observing.

"…Yes, it certainly is", Ryu agreed, wondering why the older man was making small talk with him.

"So tell me, what do you think of life at the Hinata Sou?", this question caught Ryu off guard and he answered slowly.

"It's very… interesting", he replied.

Keitaro laughed heartily, adjusting his glasses after they slipped down his nose, "That's one way of putting it I suppose. I remember when I first came here. I was about your age I think. One boy amongst a house full of beautiful women, heh, sounds like a dream or crude plotline doesn't it?".

"…"

"In reality it's a lot more work than people would think. So much happens in such a short period of time… some good, some bad, and others…", he played with the wedding ring on his third finger, "Can be the best thing that ever happened to you, things you'd never dream were possible".

"I don't understand what you're trying to say sir", Ryu answered.

"I suppose I'm not being very clear am I?", Keitaro said, chuckling ruefully, "Naru always did say I was an idiot. What I mean, is that I've been where you are now. Stuck in the middle of something you have no experience with, trying to make the best choice without hurting those you care about. I just wanted to let you know, if you hang in there and work for it… everything will turn out alright in the end".

Keitaro returned his gaze back to the courtyard, neither man saying anything for a while, just watching the snowflakes trace their idle path down to the ground.

Ryu mulled over the older man's advice. It wasn't clear if he knew what was going on or not, but the gesture spoke volumes of his character, willing to help a man that was either going to make his daughter very happy… or break her heart in the worst possible way.

"I… thank you sir", Ryu spoke first, "… I think I know what to do now".

"Hmm? Oh, always happy to help I guess", he replied, rubbing the back of his head absently as Ryu bid him farewell and went to rejoin the others back in the dining room.

Keitaro stood for a moment, carefully reaching out one and an catching a falling snowflake, cradling it as it melted on his hand and vanished before returning the extremity to the warmth of his coat pocket.

"Please, take care of my daughter Ryu-kun", he said, bowing low to the stairs down which the younger man had just departed and adding in a voice barely above a whisper, "Both of them…".

* * *

That night, Ryu lay awake in bed, mulling over Kanna's words from that day. Was it true? Could a dream never be real, no matter what it felt like to the dreamer, no matter whether they wished it to be or not?

Did that mean he was wasting time thinking about the dream girl, and if so, why couldn't he just dismiss her as unimportant?

_Damn it_, he thought. His thoughts were just travelling in circles without ever leading him anywhere; he had other things to worry about. He thought Christmas Eve was approaching too fast, now he feared after Kanna's speech, that maybe, it was approaching to slowly.

How had things gone downhill so fast?

He felt his eyes growing heavy, threatening to carry him off to a land as white as the world outside had become.

Perhaps, he thought as his mind grew groggy, perhaps the girl in the snow would be able to help him, she had never demanded anything other than his company after all…

Distantly, he began to wonder when he had started to anticipate rather than dread his visits to this other world…

As he drifted into another night of fitful dreams, pure white snow fell gently outside his window, just as it did out side another many, many miles away, and by that window, a girl with impossibly long raven hair opened her golden eyes were she lay, wrapped snugly in the warmth of her futon.

"It's snowing… it's snowing where he is… that means it's getting closer… the time when we can be together", smiling dreamily her luminous eyes slowly shut, "Soon I can talk to him… wait for me… Ryu-sama…".

* * *

--- Author Notes---

Greetings my friends, it has been a long, long time since my last update I know, but what with summer fun, work and now, returning to university, things have been somewhat hectic to put it mildly, and my passion for writing dimmed a little I'll admit.

However, I'm back in the saddle now and ready to continue as things pick up the pace in the next chapter: Chapter 4: A Relative Question; More familiar faces arrive at the Hinata Sou, but are they here to help in the festivities, or are darker things on the horizon? All this and much more in the next instalment of Love Hina: What Dreams May Come.

Till Next Time, Betweenheavenandhell

(Remember, cast your vote for the girl you want to end up with Ryu now to influence the story)


	5. Chapter 4: A Relative Question

**A/N**: This is the full version of the chapter, all 13 painstakingly crafted pages of the damned thing lol, I apologise for the huge delay, but between my schedule and the complete lack of inspiration, things have been looking grim for this story, but fear not, I'm determined to finish and bring the blademasters continuum to a close once and for all!! Hehehehe, enjoy:

* * *

Chapter Four: A Relative Question

Ryu lay silent in his futon, arms splayed out on either side, and hair fanning out around his head like a dark halo.

His covers were twisted around his lower body allowing the chill of the air to leech heat from his t-shirt clad form, but he barely paid it any mind.

It was nothing like the cold of the forest after all…

Lazily he lifted one hand, turning it over in the dim haze of dawns light outside his window.

He's been there again, to that place wreathed in endless snow, and he'd met the girl once more.

She hadn't run from him this time. As if she too was beginning to remember a little more about his trips to her strange world each time. He was sure there had been a look of recognition when he had entered the clearing she always seemed to be waiting in, or perhaps, hiding would be a more apt word for it all things considered…

However, despite the possible implications of all this, of this change to what had been little more than a recurring dream for so long now, that was not what held his attention.

---_He was out of breath. He had run all the way here after all, unbound hair lashing against cheeks made tender by the cold. His snow white robes somehow untouched by the damp crease of the icy crystals as it served to keep him warm even as it billowed out behind him, marking this as a dream even had he not already been keenly aware._

_A small number of nicks covered his face where some of the branches had caught him as he followed the path here._

_The reason for his haste?_

_He would have liked to have heard the answer himself. The moment he had awoken here, he had been ceased by an irrational need to reach the clearing as soon as possible, even though he knew exactly what he would find and what would happen._

_Why? Why would that be. What had his gut churning and his pulse racing, and left his mouth dry even before he began to run?_

_In his mind he saw a flash of something. Dark hair streaked with a lighter brown and hazel eyes filled with fire and determination… a fire that dimmed even before the image began to fade, leaving the girl those eyes belonged to looking a tired and broken shell of her usual dynamic self._

Kanna…

_Was she the reason he fled? What did he think, that she was awaiting him in the clearing instead of the other girl?_

… _No, he knew the answer._

_Every time he had come to this place, every time he had met the girl and tried to befriend her, he had been struck down, leaving her alone in this endless wilderness. He had given her hope and then hurt her, just as he had now been shown he was doing to Kanna._

So what, I can't change that for her, not here…

Finally the final bush was cleared and there he stood, in a perfect clearing breath coming ragged as his eyes came to rest on the only other inhabitant of this place.

_For a long time, sea grey met gold and neither moved. Ryu waited for her to bolt as she always did, needing the familiarity somehow and yet dreading it, confirming his suspicions._

_So that really was why he had come so quickly. He had been shaken by Kanna's unspoken ultimatum and feared its implications enough that he ran here, somehow expecting her talk to have affected his dream world as much as it had himself._

_Yet here she was, just as she always was, unaffected by the outside, by reality, just like everything around them._

"So, this really is just a dream_", he mused out loud, the implications of it all crashing down on him. To be totally unaffected by the outside world, surely that could only occur in a dream._

_He felt his face fall slightly._

_Perhaps some part of him had wanted this to be real, even if the repeated cycle of failure tortured him, at least it would be constant, unchanging… safe._

"A dream can never be real_", he whispered sadly, thinking back on Kanna's words._

I should have realised that from the start,_ he thought, thinking of how pathetic running here for comfort now seemed. Relying on an illusion._

_Gradually he raised his head, waiting to see the girl run in fear, for him to try to comfort her… and for him to die._

_He almost gasped in shock when he found a pair of twin golden eyes peering up at him intensely from beneath midnight bangs, taking an involuntary step back, his foot catching on a tree root and depositing him squarely on his backside in the snow._

"Smooth_", he muttered to himself._

_He glanced up as he heard something crunching through the snow toward him, watching with a kind of disbelieving awe as the golden eyed girl crouched at his side, folding her arms around her knees and resting her chin on her arms to peer at him curiously, her impossibly long black hair encompassing her own white robes like a cloak._

_For a moment he was struck mute, unable to escape her gaze. The finally, a sad, tired smile leaked through as the absurdity of his response, of the situation as a whole took hold._

_He had just been thinking about how this was all fake because nothing changed, and now suddenly it did._

_As much as he would have liked to have thought that maybe this was proof that things here were real, to have drawn hope from the idea that perhaps dreams weren't as fake as he was being made to see. It was more likely that he was simply trying to delude himself to avoid the pain in his, Kanna and Ayu's future._

"So much for my resolve_", he spoke softly, thinking back on his words after speaking with Kanna's father. All that will vanished, lost in face of a recurring dream that probably only came from his own inner weakness anyway._

"What?_", he asked, eyes once more focusing on the present as something shockingly warm in this artic dreamscape cupped his cheek carefully._

_His mind froze, unable to explain the sensations he was feeling within this dream as his gaze traced the slender fingers brushing his skin back along the robe clan arm they were attached to and up to the youthful face of the girl they both belonged to, her delicate features pinched by a look of sadness._

"Are…are you worried…about me?_", he asked slowly, trying to understand what was happening, "_This…is a dream… so… why?_"_

_He watched as if in slow motion as her mouth began to move as if to reply, her face slowly transforming from an expression of concern to one of fear as her golden eyes tracked up and over his shoulder, widening as her mouth stretched wide as if to scream._

_Even as he turned, he knew what he wouldn't make it, felt the cold steel biting into his neck pouring a world of agony into him in an instant before everything went white_---

It had changed. His dream had changed, but why?

Had it really been just because of his talk with Kanna, something from his subconscious reacting to the dread he felt, or perhaps…

Ryu let his hand drop, grunting when he struck himself in the face in the process.

"Dreaming of damsels in distress so I don't have to face the reality of it all", he grimaced, parting his fingers so he could stare between them, "How pathetic".

Only the silence of the dorm answered, neither confirming nor denying his accusation.

Rolling over onto his side, Ryu drew the covers back over himself and drifted back to sleep.

This time, there were no fields of white to disturb his slumber.

* * *

Ryu awoke groggily this time, as one should, peering around blearily at his alarm clock and suffering the minor heart attack one does when they think they are late for something, but aren't awake enough to realise they have the wrong day.

After calming down and waking up enough to realise his mistake, and glad that no one had been around to see it, he contemplated rolling over and going back to bed, but soon found that his recent adrenaline rush had cancelled out that option.

With a yawn and a bone popping stretch he lumbered out of bed, tossing aside his bedtime attire and shivering briefly in the brisk morning air and he dug a plain red sweater and some black jeans out of his wardrobe, fumbling a moment with cold numbed hands before he could finish dressing and slipping on his house slippers.

As he walked down the corridor toward the stairs he stopped for a moment to watch the snowflakes drifting by.

_So… it's still snowing…_, he thought as he gazed out across the white blanket that had settled firmly across the landscape, furrowing his hands into his pockets and half heartedly glaring at the ice crystals dancing past on the chill breeze as if they were the cause of all his misfortune.

Snorting at the snow with contempt, he made his way toward the stairs, yawning every now and again as his adrenaline high wore off now that he was no longer snugly in bed. Another thing to be annoyed about.

So wrapped up in his list of things to blame the world on that morning was he, that he failed to notice the shadowy presence clinging to the ceiling above him, even as it detached, landing behind him with a muffled thud that finally began to alert his distracted mind to the possibility of danger.

"Huh?", he turned just as the crouched figure sprung for him, able to do little more than widen his eyes in shock as a blur of red streaked at him like a fiery missile.

"Oni-chan!", the missile shouted as he tried to back up, his foot only finding air as he belatedly realised that the stairs were behind him now that he had turned.

"No, wait!", he shouted too late as his assailant made impact.

For a moment everything seemed to become weightless as he felt his feet leave the floor, nothing seeming to tether his body but the two small arms wrapped around his waist as his vision was momentarily blocked by a fan of red hair.

In its own way, the moment was profound, giving him a rare insight, a moment or retrospection that bordered on what some might term enlightenment… and then, as it always did, reality interrupted.

Time resumed its normal flow, much like the sensation of phasing, a technique that had he been faster in remembering it, could have saved them both a world of hurt at the hands of the jealous mistress that is gravity.

The first blow as the top of his spine impacted the stair about halfway down the first flight almost knocked him senseless, but only almost.

As he felt himself flipping in mid air, rotating rapidly, he instinctively hugged his attacker closer to himself as they let loose a startled shriek, wrapping himself around their smaller body as he bounced again, unable to cry out as he struck the wall of the first landing hard enough to see stars before ricocheting like a pinball, rolling rather than bouncing this time down the next set, a dull thud accompanying each revolution.

As he hit the bottom at long last, he opened like a flower, sprawling and sliding to a stop as friction with the Hinata Sou's wooden floors drew him to a halt.

For a long time, all he could to was lay there panting, his body noisily protesting his carelessness with a number of uncomfortable twinges but luckily not the dreaded flare of something twisted or broken.

"Well… that's certainly one way to great him I suppose Satomi-chan", a teasing voice called him back from his daze, making him aware of an abnormal pressure on his chest.

Lifting his aching head, Ryu found his view of the tanned commenter partially obscured by something white and dotted with hearts.

_What in the…_, he though as he tried to resolve this strange image with the two flesh coloured things either side of it.

A loud crash drew his attention away from this strange puzzle, his half concussed mind trying to figure out why Ayu was standing in the entrance to the kitchen, hands clasped to her chest and a look of mortification on her usually shy face.

He watched the colander she had dropped roll to a stop somewhere near Yui, fasinated by the movement for a moment before returning his attention to the blue haired girl as she struggled to speak.

"S-sempai, w-what are you doing to Satomi-chan!", she finally managed to get out.

"Satomi…", he frowned, his sluggish mind taking a moment to put two and two together, his head falling back with a grimace when it did, "This is not my day".

"Oni-chan", Satomi wheezed atop him, sitting up and rubbing her eyes sleepily, unaware she was cutting off his ability to breathe.

"Oni-chan?", she asked looking around questioningly at the amuse Yui and the horrified Ayu for a moment before noticing how hard and lumpy the floor seemed for some reason.

The floor groaned and she looked back in shock to find Ryu lying beneath her, eyes closed and face turning blue.

"Oni-chan?! Oh no, I killed him!"

* * *

---_Ryu groaned softly as his skull throbbed with a dull ache. Why did it hurt so, he couldn't quite recall, but he remembered something about a red comet… or maybe it was a bus if his head was anything to go by…_

_Ryu shivered._

_It was so very cold, where was he?_

_As other sensations slowly filtered in, he became aware that not all of him was cold. His hands and feet might have been carved from ice for all the feeling they had, and his limbs made leaden by pain, but his head, though it ached, was warmed by something… something soft and pleasantly scented on which is was rested._

_He tried to open his eyes but failed. It felt as if someone were holding them down._

_After a prolonged struggled he managed to crack one open, then the other, only to find himself staring a featureless white sky…no, not featureless, just covered in clouds, all raining down powdery snow on the silent world below._

Wait, when did I get outside?_, he wondered drowsily_.

_He tried to sit up but a subtle weight held his shoulders down an increasingly familiar face hovering into view above him._

_Warm gold eyes beamed concern down at him, long locks of raven hair spilled down, tickling his checks._

_Ryu smiled sleepily as her expression relaxed on seeing him awake._

"How did I get here?_", he asked, waiting for a response even though he knew she wasn't going to and indeed, didn't, give one, "_Have you been looking after me_"_

_A subtle nod was his only reply, but it was enough he supposed._

"Thanks…_", he muttered, feeling his eyelids trying to tug closed, but forcing them to stay open a little longer. So he had somehow come here without going to sleep this time… in that case there was something he had to know, to see if this was really a dream or not._

"Who are you?_", he asked, but the girl only frowned and looked away, "_What is it you want from me?_"_

_His eyes grew heavier by the second but he tried to keep them routed on her face, trying to find meaning in the sad look she gave him as everything began to fade._

_As oblivion beckoned and Ryu closed his eyes from the final time in this world, a voice, as clear and clean crystal rang out in his mind._

"Help me…_"._

_He struggled to fight his way back out of the numbness of his mind, somehow instantly aware that it was her voice he had heard, but it was a loosing battle._

Wait! Help you? Why, what's going on, who are you!

"Please… Ryu-sama_"_---

* * *

Chii picked her way down the icy, snow-covered slope carefully. Taking her time to avoid slipping as she clung to the bare branches that hung in her path like lifelines, silently wishing for a set of concreted and salted stairs to use instead, but knowing of only this path to her destination.

Alongside her, Chiho was having a much easier time of things than his mistress, even guiding four legs rather than two down the treacherous slope. His breed had been raised for such weather after all; it was in his blood to feel at home in these surroundings.

As much as he would have like nothing more than to bound down the snowy slope, spraying powder in his wake as powerful muscles propelled him with easy and tough claws an furrowed pads kept his purchase, he would never leave Chii's side unless she ordered it.

Any other girl might have been muttering to herself, or openly whining, but Chii's only visible expression of discomfort were slightly narrowed emerald eyes as she reluctantly released her latest branch and carefully waded her way to the next, disliking the feel of her long damp stockings as they clung icily to her skin.

She had been doing this for a few days now. Coming to this one clearing every day to observe the man who had given her permission to do so, even though he didn't understand her reasons for coming back, or why she had been watching him to start with before he let on that he knew what she was doing.

Whatever the reason Chii was grateful. A willing subject was much easier to observe, and helped the flow of her research even if the actual progress still seemed null.

It was also true that the subject's reaction to her was intriguing. There had been a noted absence of the usual fear response her stoic nature seemed to provoke even in the initial encounter, and that had… intrigued her somewhat, enough that she had begun to take separate notes about the subject himself, though she wasn't yet sure what she hoped to gleam from any insights she might discover.

In this area at least there was plenty of data however. The subject; Hayate, seemed content to make up for her lack of offered conversation by providing a steady stream of his own, not phased by her lack of responses, or even the absence of her name.

Instead he would simply refer to her as "Little one", a name that irritated her a little, but not sufficiently to either stop the study, or to invalidate it in anyway by being overly familiar with the subject and providing her name.

Still, this acceptance was surprisingly likable, even though Chii had long since given up actively seeking it out from those around her, and had actually started to look forward to it after a fashion though she couldn't explain why. He had even almost made her crack a smile yesterday with some impulsive joke about her reasons for observing him.

Idly she wondered if this was how most regular people spent their time. Not secretly experimenting on a person several years their elder per se, but this companionable chit-chat.

Chii didn't notice her increase in pace as she wondered if it would be possible to continue researching this phenomena after she was finished with her main research. It might pay to know more about spontaneous inter-personal interaction, as it seemed a fairly prominent and agreeable pastime.

If nothing else it would get her mind off what had happened to Ryu a few days ago after Satomi's greeting had gone horribly wrong, leaving him unconscious for the better part of a day, and her friend grief stricken.

Thanks to the careful aid of Ayu and Kanna, he had eventually awoken and other than being rather annoyed and complaining of a very sore head, had seemed fine, though the older women had confined him to his room after Chii had informed them of a possible concussion on his part that he would need to rest properly to recuperate from.

In truth she had hoped that she might have had the chance to get to nurse him back to health herself seen as she was the only one with a broader knowledge of medicine, having read some journals on it once and in true Su fashion, having retained and even improved on everything she has stored in that genius mind of hers.

However she had failed to factor in that between Ayu, Kanna, though the dark haired girl had all but vanished as soon as he actually regained consciousness for some reason, a maternal Natsuki and an extremely apologetic Satomi, she had been muscled out of that position before she had started.

At least she knew he was being taken care of, and if it kept her usually observant red headed friend too distracted to notice her sneaking off, all the better.

Perhaps she could still make something of this if she could crack the mystery of the 'power' before he had recovered and could present it to him as a get-well gift…

Her cheeks flushed a little as her mind spun through a number of ways the older boy might express his gratitude and admiration, leading her to slip with a quiet yelp.

"Shame", she intoned, head down, as she struggled to regain her footing, Chiho offering himself as support until she had regained her footing and set off again.

As she drew closer to the clearing, voices echoed back to her, slowing her pace.

Had Hayate brought a practice partner with him? Or had he perhaps invited someone else to watch that day?

A strange feeling churned Chii's gut as she negotiated a particularly tricky section of the slope and she tried to catch some of the words, but only made out snippets of the conversation.

As she drew near the tone of the two became clearer, and from the angry undertones of the one that belonged to Hayate's guest, she could tell that whatever was being discussed was not a pleasant topic.

Chii frowned.

If this was something sensitive, then she doubted eavesdropping as Yui would call it would be appreciated… however, there was always the slim possibility that if this other person had come in regards to something based on Hayate's training she might learn something important to her research…

Again Chii felt uneasy but could not explain why. Her reasoning was sound was it not?

As the voices began to quite down she made a decision to progress regardless and after a quick verbal command to Chiho, began once more to pick her way down the frozen paths.

"… well, you've heard what's happening. Are you still going to do nothing!", the angry voice of the visitor carried to her.

There was a pause, and Chii could almost picture Hayate's philosophical shrug.

"Who knows", came his flippant response.

"Why you-", the voice cut off as if the speaker were trying to kept a rein on their anger, "After all the history, just who's side are you on?"

"Sides, why is that what everyone is so interested in these days? Kind of sad to see that humans have such a desperate need to take 'sides' isn't it. Whatever happened to people?"

"…What kind of an answer is that?"

"My kind I suppose…"

As the voices grew quieter Chii tried to pick up her pace. There was something familiar about that second speaker that she didn't yet have enough data to put a finger on.

As she reached for an over hanging branch to steady herself, her foot encountered another patch of ice. Her inner ear screamed an alert but too late, her footing lost, Chii plunged down the icy slope, her small body bouncing and rolling as she went.

Dimly she was aware that the two voices stopped talking as she crashed to a halt in a shallow ditch, too dazed to really take note of what was said next as she let out a uncharacteristic whimper and tried to lever herself upright.

Chii gazed down at her snow-covered clothes and ripped stockings, trying to remain impartial and take stock of her situation even as her body began to shiver from shock.

There was an intense throbbing pain coming from her ankle, but any attempt to make a better assessment of its condition was cut short by the sound of footsteps in the snow. Footsteps heading straight toward her.

Chii didn't attempt to hide or get away, she was in no condition to do so even had there been a reason, so when Hayate eventually appeared he was momentarily taken aback to find her sitting, dishevelled, in the ditch but still as blank faced as ever.

Chii glanced past him but saw no sign of whomever he had been speaking to. Presumably they had left when he came to investigate the disturbance she had unwittingly created.

When he didn't speak for a moment Chii began to realise how strange she must appear sitting in the snow like this, her cheeks colouring minutely for a moment.

"Ok, I give up", he said finally, walking over and crouching next to her, "What are you doing?".

"Fell", Chii said simply, gesturing to the slope behind her.

Hayate's expression changed from one of amusement to concern.

"I see, so all that commotion just now was you huh? Are you ok, can you stand?", he asked moving some of his long hair aside to see her more clearly.

Chii gingerly moved her leg, aware from just the sensations caused by the movement that her ankle would not support her.

"Hurt", she said, only a slight inflection in her voice betraying any actual pain, but Hayate seemed to get the message.

Cradling her foot carefully, he probed her ankle for a moment, before lowering it to the ground.

"Not much more than a sprain, though it's already swelling…", he sighed, "Not much of an athlete are you?".

Although she did nothing more than stare, Hayate smiled as if she had shouted at him like Kanna would Ryu.

"I wouldn't advise walking on that for a while… hmm, do you have anyway of contacting someone to pick you up?", he asked, frowning when she shook her head, "Well that's no good, what were you thinking wondering around alone?"

"Not alone, Chiho is here", she answered almost indignantly for her canine friend, forgetting that Hayate knew nothing about him.

"Chiho?", he asked slowly, glancing up and freezing for a moment when part of the snow seemed to move, resolving into a rather large dog as it drew closer.

"Chiho-chan", Chii stated again as her furry companion lopped closer, whining and keening as he discovered the state of his owner.

"… I see", Hayate let loose a short laugh, "You really are a strange girl aren't you?".

He laughed again when all she did was nod.

"Definitely strange… however, unless your friend has a phone hidden on him somewhere…", he paused to make sure she wasn't going to tell him he did before carrying on, "Then we need to get you home somehow".

He looked thoughtful for a moment before smirking and shaking his head, setting soft waves of ebony hair swaying in time with the movement.

"Why not, the most simple answer is usually the correct one right?", he said cryptically, causing Chii to cock her head slightly to one side trying to puzzle out his meaning.

"I apologise in advance", he said, moving to her side and before she could ponder his intent, scooping her up in his arms.

Shocked by the sudden movement, Chii grabbed the front of his practice robes instinctively, green eyes going wider than normal as she glanced up at him in confusion.

"You shouldn't walk, and since you have no way to contact anyone else, short of riding your canine companion, there's no other way for you to get home", he said apologetically, giving her a close eyed smile, "I apologise again for the impropriety little one".

For a moment Chii just stared at him with that unsettlingly perceptive emerald gaze of hers and he braced to support her if she insisted on getting down. Truth be told it was a rather foolishly impulsive thing to have done. A whim based on too many hours spent reading old tales most likely and now that he was actually carrying her, it seemed more than a tad ridiculous.

"Chii"

"Excuse me?", he asked, unsure that he had heard her speak or what she was referring to.

"Chii's name is Chii", she said lowering her gaze and staring toward the clearing.

"…I see", he said after a moment, smiling to himself.

"We need to leave now, or your arms will get tired", she intoned seriously, still not looking at him.

It took him a moment to figure out what she meant.

"Hold on a moment, you can't mean you actually want me to carry you home?", he joked.

"You said Chii should not walk", she answered as if stating the obvious.

"…I suppose I did, didn't I", he chuckled to cover his surprise. This girl really was a strange one after all.

"Well then Chii, lead on, lead on", he said.

Chii nodded, one hand pointing off to their left, back up the hill, "Go that way".

"Your wish is my command my Lady", he chuckled, deciding to get into the role he had found himself cast in. True his master would be furious if he ever found out he skipped training for something so trivial, but this was too amusing an experience to pass up.

Chii nodded silently again and returned her hand to it's previous grip and looking forward as they began to ascend, Chiho following so that no one would be able to see the fading blush on her cheeks.

Casting her mind back to her earlier thoughts, Chii decided she had been right; there was much she didn't understand.

More research would be needed in the future.

* * *

Ryu smiled up until Ayu shut the door, only then allowing himself to express the scowl that had been building up since he had been declared bedridden.

It was not the blue haired girl's fault. He appreciated her efforts, and enjoyed her gentle presence, but with his previous experiences of illness, it was no wonder he wanted to be up and around again as soon as possible.

That and the dream he had had when he had been knocked out.

He had awoken in the clearing, something very different to what he was used to, and on top of that, she had spoken to him. Not just spoken, but asked for his help… and called his name.

"…Who are you", he whispered, his eyes drifting closed as if seeking the dreamworld in which she resided but knowing he would find nothing. He hadn't once returned to that world of snow since that time.

"It's not enough to have girls vanish in the real world, no they disappear from my dreams as well…", he said, thinking of one girl in particular.

Kanna hadn't been to visit him once since he had awoken, though he had been told that she had been as frantic as Ayu when Satomi's enthusiasm had left him unconscious, tending him throughout the day and night along side the blue haired girl.

There was a sharp rap on the door and for a moment his hopes flared, but died just as quickly as the door slid aside and the last person he could have wanted to see at that moment walked inside, an arrogant smirk on his face, and a spark of barely contained glee sparkling in his sea grey eyes.

"Well, well, well", the visitor spoke as he slid the door closed again, tossing his purple ponytail back over his shoulder and taking up a considering pose, "The _great_ Ryuuya, lain out by a little girl huh? Shameful cousin, just shameful".

Ryu groaned inwardly even as he sent his cousin a look of glacial distaste that Kyosuke only savoured like fine wine.

"What do you want?", he asked curtly, not in the mood for this confrontation.

"Testy today aren't we? Is that anyway to treat family?", that got Ryuuya's attention. Since when did Kyosuke openly and willingly refer to them as family, even in private?

"… I see…", there had been a subtle stress on the word family.

"An important time of year for that sort of thing you know", Kyosuke added lazily, pausing for a moment and closing his eyes before nodding slowly and opening them again as if confirming something before taking a seat near Ryu's futon.

"I suppose", Ryu answered. His childhood had been tainted far too much for him to really have an appreciation for that sort of thing, though he really was making an effort this year… he had a reason after all…

Kyosuke watched his face darken for a moment and shrugged, resting back on his hands and glancing at the ceiling.

"You came with Satomi I suppose?", Ryu asked after into the silence.

"Of course", he replied with a derisive snort, "Someone has to keep her in line"

He glanced at Ryu out of the corner of his eye when the older boy laughed, "Great job as always"

He grinned to himself when he saw the purple haired boy grit his teeth angrily and ploughed on, "Where were you when she attempted to kill me?"

Kyosuke smirked, "Not here, other business to attend to while I sent her on ahead. Wish I'd seen it though"

There was a lack of malign conviction in his words that took Ryu aback for a moment. Though he'd seen his cousin a number of times since the warehouse incident, the mellowing of their rivalry and dislike never ceased to surprise him.

Ryu wondered how much his withdrawal from his life as a member of the _Oni's Bane_ school had to do with that, though knowing Kyosuke, that was more likely the cause of any lingering resentment. The knowledge that he would never be able to overcome him simply because he wasn't there anymore.

He also pondered darkly on just how much that decision might be the reason for this sudden visit.

"…Are you really here to visit, or is this business?", he asked after a moment, deciding to get right to the point.

"Satomi thinks it's just a visit", he answered, frowning for a moment and looking at the door as if distracted.

Ryu turned that answer over in his mind, trying to find some way around the obvious, unspoken answer in contained.

"And you?", he asked with a twisting feeling in his gut as his cousin met his gaze openly, with no trace of his usually smirk or temper.

"Family business, as I said", he replied cryptically.

"…And that is?", Ryu asked trying to hold his patience.

Kyosuke sat forward, absently toying with the end of his ponytail as if searching for the right response, and all the while the sickening feeling in Ryu's gut grew.

"You said you couldn't come back right?", he asked quietly.

Ryu's gut clenched again but he wasn't sure why. He nodded slowly when Kyosuke glanced his way again. Something was definitely wrong, very wrong.

"I made a choice, to live my new life, and move forward from that day… what's going on?", he asked, trying to hold his cousins gaze only to have him look away.

Without responding the purple haired boy stood, making as if to leave before Ryuuya called out to him.

"Wait. Tell, me, what's happening that you're not telling me?", he asked.

"…Would it make a difference. Would you give up your new life if I told you?", Kyosuke asked, his back to the older boy.

"…I made a decision", Ryu responded slowly, thinking of Kanna and Ayu.

"She needs your help", Kyosuke said quietly, missing the shocked look on Ryu's face.

"_Help me…please Ryu-sama"_

His head throbbed and the world threatened to tip over as Ryu reached out a hand to steady himself.

"Things have become…complicated, since you left. A lot of people were dissatisfied without how the Yazuropth situation was resolved", his fist clenched angrily at his side as he remembered all the accusations levelled against he and his sister by men he had previously thought supported him, "There is a growing… dissent amongst the council"

"…Mother?", Ryu asked as the pain subsided, fearing the reply.

"Aunt Motoko is fine… for the moment. She has her supporters, people loyal to the new ways instilled by your Father", Kyosuke answered grimly.

Ryu stared down at his covers silently, trying to make sense of what he was hearing.

"She…" Kyosuke shook his head, "no… … Ryuuya, do you believe you made the right choice in staying here?"

Ryu grimaced as the night he had last seen Kanna flickered through his mind, but didn't reply.

"…If you want to stay here I won't say anything more. You're not a part of this anymore, that was your decision…I'll respect that if I have too", he turned to glance at his cousin over his shoulder, "But if you want to know more then you'll have to come with me. We leave tomorrow night…".

Without another word exchanged, Kyosuke slipped silently from the room.

* * *

As he closed the door, the purple haired boy felt as if a crushing weight were bearing down upon him, one he had hoped to share to little avail.

Why he hadn't just told him everything he couldn't say. Perhaps after learning more about who his cousin was than he had ever dreamed that night he had at some point begun to pity the older boy…

"Maybe I'm just going soft", he murmered.

"Would it be so bad if you stopped hating him?" a voice asked from the shadows, causing Kyosuke to smirk half heartedly.

"Maybe, but I could never live it down. It's to much of who I am", he said softly as the shadow began to move closer.

"People choose their own path in life, they can change it whenever they want", Yui said stepping into the light and folding her arms over her exposed midriff, "Isn't that why you asked me to keep an eye on him all these years. To defend that right?"

"Feh", Kyosuke waved his hand dismissively, "Sounds far too deep for me and way to soppy…"

He didn't resisted when a hand arm drew him into a light embrace, his face barely reaching above the older woman's chest leaving it resting against the crook of her neck.

"Are you going to tell me now what's going on, why you've been sending so many letters and warnings if you were going to come up here personally anyway?", the platinum blond whispered softly in his ear, one hand toying with his purple locks.

"…I can't…I'm tired Yui… I'm too much like my old man, a fighter not a thinker. I know she wants him there, even if she won't say it, so why can't I-", he was cut off as the tanned woman made quiet shushing noises, leaning away from him just enough to make him look up at her.

"It's ok, I'm not much of a thinker either", she said, dipping her head to kiss him lightly before returning to her embrace, "But we'll come up with something, I promise".

* * *

Ryu stared listlessly out of the window.

Something had happened at home, something far worse than Kyosuke was letting on he was sure.

"Family", something was happening to his family back home, but if he went back, would he ever be able to return to the one he was trying to make here?

"Is she really there?", he wondered, unable to shake the almost tangible feeling he had had since hearing her voice. Somehow, he knew… she was involved in whatever was happening back home, he knew this.

If he went back, could he really be of any help? Was she actually waiting there for him somewhere… and if he went back to that world, could he ever return?

Lying back down in his futon, Ryu watched the snow drifting past his window overhead.

"Ayu…Kanna… help me…", he whispered, neither the darkness nor the snow offered any reply

* * *

In the solitude of her room, a girl with impossibly long raven hair and golden eyes smiles as the snow whips past her window in tiny flurries.

"I'm waiting for you… so come quickly ok? Ryu-sama"

* * *

---Authors Notes---

Hola amigos, it's been a while hasn't, which is why I offer up this longer than your average chapter, mystery packed morsel for your enjoyment as well as report my new update schedule. I'll be updating at least one of my fics in one month slots to fit around my latest essay schedule. But fear not, that means though you have a longer wait, you'll now get longer, better written and more thought out chapters than ever before.

Chapter 5: Decisions on Dependency; Ryu struggles to decide which world to live in and how to cope with the consequences of his decision, while Chii ponders her latest discovery and Kanna and Ayu come to terms with her revelation. All this and more in the next chapter of What Dreams May Come

Till next time, Betweenheavenandhell


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